Troye Sivan has claimed that he was ‘catfished’ and targeted by the same Russian pranksters who posed as Greta Thunberg and her father to Prince Harry.
The Australian singer, 24, shared the incredible story on his Instagram TV on Friday, saying that he and his manager genuinely thought they were communicating with the environmental activist, 17.
Troye’s manager, Dani Russin, said that he had a big opportunity to work with Greta after supposedly speaking to her father Svante.
Targeted: Troye Sivan (pictured) claimed on Friday that he was ‘CATFISHED’ and targeted by the same Russian pranksters who posed as Greta Thunberg and her father to Prince Harry
The hitmaker said he thought Greta wanted to work with him on a project called Stars Save the Earth and was told that she was a big fan of his.
He said the project would involve a crazy ‘to-do list’ of activities including swimming with sharks with Leonardo DiCaprio and saving animals in Africa with Prince Harry.
The My! My! My! singer said he fell for the prank and couldn’t believe that Greta wanted to work with him.
He said he thought at the time: ‘Oh my God, this girl is so inspiring – and now she wants to work with me. That’s crazy!’
Victim: The Australian singer, 24, shared the incredible story on his Instagram TV on Friday (pictured in the video), saying that he and his manager genuinely thought they were communicating with the environmental activist, 17
Activists: Greta is pictured with her father Svante
Troye and his manager agreed that it was a great opportunity for them make a difference and exchanged contact details with the pranksters.
He said he eagerly texted the pranksters – who he thought was Greta – hoping to discuss the project.
In a screen shot he shared, he wrote that he was ‘inspired’ by her ‘incredible’ environmental work and that he was ‘happy to help’ her – but didn’t hear back from her for some time.
Troye’s manager then contacted him saying she feared that they had been ‘catfished’ – a term that describes the act of luring someone with a fake identity online.
He was eager: Troye and his manager agreed that it was a great opportunity for them make a difference and exchanged contact details with the pranksters. He said he eagerly texted the pranksters – who he thought was Greta – hoping to discuss the project
Oh no! ‘I have a bad feeling that we were catfished,’ his manager wrote in a text to Troye
He explained that his manager and her Swedish boyfriend realised they had been fooled after watching YouTube videos of Greta’s father speaking English.
‘I have a bad feeling that we were catfished,’ his manager wrote in a text to Troye.
Troye giggled and said he ‘died laughing’ hearing about the prank.
‘I died laughing, to me I thought this was the most hysterical thing… That is the best plan ever, whoever thought of that is absolutely genius,’ Troye said.
‘But also, the fact that my ego was big enough to go, “Greta Thunberg just wants to chill, she’s a big fan…” just completely mortified me, made me want to die and also made me cry laughing,’ he added.
He said he later received another message from fake Greta asking how he was, but did not respond.
Big mistake: Troye said he later found out that Prince Harry (pictured) fell victim to the same prank orchestrated by Russian pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov earlier this month
Troye said he later found out that Prince Harry fell victim to the same prank orchestrated by Russian pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov earlier this month.
The Duke of Sussex, 35, inadvertently gave the duo, posing as Greta Thunberg and her father, his phone number and personal email address.
The Prince responded to them from his email, and called them on his phone – without withholding his number.
Royal insiders were shocked by the major security lapse, and blamed his new PR advisers for the huge oversight, The Sun reported.
Prince Harry reportedly told the pranksters about his struggles over his exile from the Royal Family, his disdain for his uncle Prince Andrew and accused President Trump of having ‘blood on his hands.’
Pictured: Vladimir Kuznetsov (left) and Alexey Stolyarov (right), March 2016