A fake Carlton Cole Twitter account duped Papa Bouba Diop into a WhatsApp chat

Here's a story that could only exist in 2015

The days of wondering where former footballers went are over as you can now look them up on Twitter. Of course, unless they have that magical blue tick, you simply can't be sure they are who they say they are. Even former team-mates can be fooled by fake accounts, as this exchange between the real Papa Bouba Diop and a fake Carlton Cole illustrates. An account called @_CarltonCole9 got in touch with Diop on Twitter and the Senegalese international followed the fake account. Soon Diop passed on his real phone number to the person behind the account via a DM. A few days later this exchange on WhatsApp with Diop was posted online.

So last night I was texting former West Ham midfielder papa diop… pic.twitter.com/Ro2p3aB4Kk — Sakho (@MichaelWilson97) January 1, 2015

Diop copped that he was not speaking to an old friend and we assume he has now changed his number. Be careful out there Papa, the internet is a wild old place. Hat-tip to Eurosport Update: Okay the guy who was chatting to Diop now says he isn't the fake Carlton Cole.

For the record, I am not the parody Carlton Cole — Sakho (@MichaelWilson97) January 6, 2015

So the fake Carlton Cole account did get Diop's details but they didn't have the WhatsApp chat with him, that was someone else. Happy to clarify an already bewildering story with yet more layers of intruige.