London, Aug 23 : Romanian Prime Minister, Victor Ponta, recently pretend to be tennis star Simona Halep on Facebook to gain popularity, it has been reported.

Ponta posted a picture of the rank 2 champion in women's singles to his Facebook page and wrote; " Simona Halep has just launched her official Facebook page! I LIKE it, do you?" the Daily Star reported.

Although a picture of Halep was next to the "Like" button, the page actually shared in the sponsored post was Ponta's.

The con was picked up quickly by the local media but on August 8, Ponta gathered 3,000 new likes, about seven and a half times more than the usual.

There was no official comment from Ponta, but his staff later changed the post and actually shared Halep's page after widespread media criticism of the trick. (ANI)