Phuc Dat Bich a Hoax? Ex-Classmate Outs His Secret!

Back in January, a man named Phuc Dat Bich attempted to prove the authenticity of his identity to Facebook by posting his passport, which showed the same name. Now, it has been revealed that the whole thing was fake.

And why should this bit of news matter, some would ask. That's because the man's sympathy-earning pitch to Facebook had gained him a flock of supporters and much media attention. Despite being posted at the beginning of this year, his passport evidence had gone viral just this month.

Perhaps chastened by the well-meaning overtures of netizens, the Australian-Vietnamese man in question finally admitted that his story was in fact a hoax. And a former classmate of his seconded his claim.

"A schoolmate from Deer Park Secondary College in Melbourne contacted Mashable with a school photo and proof that Phuc Dat Bich's real name is Thien Nguyen," Mashable reported.

"This corroborates with research that linked the number plate of the Subaru shown repeatedly on Phuc Dat Bich's Facebook page with a cached version of an ad on carpoint.com.au. Thien was listed as the person selling the same car in September this year," the tech news source added.

In the wake of such an admission, the Facebook page featuring the viral photo can no longer be found, including that of the Melbourne man's new social media pseudonym, "Joe Carr," which is supposedly a phonetic take on Joker.

"In a mea culpa posted to Facebook, still titled Phuc Dat Bich, on Wednesday afternoon, the 23-year-old Melbourne man admitted that the name change and doctored image was part of a prank intended to fool the news media and highlight shortcomings of Facebook's 'real name' policy," The Guardian noted.

"What started as a joke between friends, became a prank that made a fool out of the media and brought out the best in the people who reached out to me," the man admitted. "It didn't bring out the anger and darkness that we often see on the internet, but it brought a levity and humanity in a time we need it most."

"Out of this ordeal I've concluded not to trust the credibility of the media, it's twisted by the hungry journalists who mask the truth ... It goes to show that an average joe like myself can con the the biggest news sources with ease," he concluded.

The publication went on to say that the man revealed his name was actually Tin Le, which is not the same name revealed to Mashable. However, a friend of his corroborated his revelation and said his name is indeed Le. Both the 23-year-old and his friend denied his name was Nguyen. He, however, refused to be verified.

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