Saudi Prince Fahad Al Saud caught in case of mistaken identity

Don't you hate it when someone else shares the same name as you?

That's exactly what one Saudi prince felt when news of his name-twin's extravagant spending made headlines this week.

Reports surfaced of a Saudi prince named Prince Fahd Al Saud splurging almost $20 million on a graduation celebration for sixty of his closest friends at Disneyland near Paris.

However, in a case of mistaken identity, it was tech-entrepreneur and former Facebook employee Prince Fahad Al Saud, who felt the heat of the lavish trip as media outlets associated the story with him.

"It is a case of mistaken identity and that's something so simple that media outlets around the world couldn't even be bothered to check," Prince Fahad Al Saud told Yahoo! Maktoob in an exclusive interview.

One major US news outlet even linked out his personal information and his social network profiles in a story they later retracted, but the damage had been done.

"The level of harassment and cyberbullying I got was unbelievable and I take threats very seriously," Prince Fahad said.

So how did he find out about the inaccurate story?

"I'm very lucky to have an international group of friends and an international network of followers. Luckily, I've been documenting my life on Instagram for a year and a half now and people there were reaching out to me."

Earlier the self-confessed Instagram addict took to his popular social network feed to clear up the rumours.

"Dont u hate it when someone with the same name does something crazy and u get stuck with the backlash?" he posted along with a screenshot of the story.

"Finally all my over posting on Instagram has proven useful because if u follow me u know that I've never been to Disneyland paris or Hong Kong (well not since I was 12) when in doubt just check my timeline lol."

Prince Fahad said when it comes to Saudi Arabia, western media outlets don't do enough research before publishing a story.

"There are a number of media outlets that are sensationalised and profit-driven and are clearly dependent on advertising, unfortunately, so they don't even bother to fact-check or do any research. It seems like integrity in journalism doesn't exist anymore." he said.

Prince Fahad was in Jordan working on his company at the time and had any of the journalists done some research they would have found that out, he said.

He also believes Saudis must come to the forefront and make themselves more known globally to combat the stereotypes, which is why he "lives his life very openly".

"I decided to be very open to correct and clear up these misconceptions and it is paying off and protecting me," he said.

Well, that clears that up, then.

Check back soon for our in-depth interview with the Prince.

Have you ever been trapped in a case of mistaken identity? Tell us in the comments or get in touch at maktoob@yahoo-inc.com and we might feature your story.