Chris Pratt Warns His Fans Against 'Pervy Dude' Who's Impersonating Him
TUSTIN (CBSLA) -- Be sure to look for that blue verified check mark.
That's the warning tonight from actor Chris Pratt. He took to social media to warn his fans, especially the female ones, that some guy has been impersonating him.
And Pratt is not amused. In fact, he's sent out an Instagram post calling his impersonator "a pervy dude."
KCAL9's Stacey Butler got local reaction from some of Pratt's 16 million followers.
Late last night, the "Guardians of the Galaxy" star posted the warning saying someone on Facebook was pretending to be him.
"It's confirmed: somebody is trying to pretend to be me on Facebook (and maybe other social media platforms) apparently hitting on a lot of different female fans, trying to get their numbers and who knows what else. I'm not joking," Pratt wrote.
At least one mom was taking the threat seriously.
"I'm very cautious. You don't know is that the real person, or ...is it fake?" said Cecilia Foster.
Pratt, 38, is not flattered by his impersonator. In fact, he calls the behavior reprehensible. He also said he's worried about his fans' safety -- many of them being young or teenage girls.
"Girls are very naive at times and they don't realize what they can get themselves into," said mom Kaitlyn Foster.
Butler spoke to Dr. Niklas Myhr, a social media professor at Chapman University. He says he's not surprised about the imposter .He said millions of fake social media accounts are out there -- many used by predators.
"Just use their Wikipedia profile..you can find the name of their dog and their kids, birth years," he said.
Meanwhile, tonight Pratt is also warning his fans about giving out their phone numbers.
Dr. Myhr says Pratt is doing the right thing.
"Just warn them, teach them. Because they follow you religiously why not use that platform," the doctor says.
Now, more than ever, the doctor says celebrities should protest their privacy and followers should be careful about who they are follow.
"Like a bank sends out a message, we will never ask for your password or email..same thing with celebrities, we will never ask for your number."
Butler reports the fake Pratt profile on Facebook has been taken down.
