Man admits ‘Phuc Dat Bich’ Facebook name was a hoax

A man whose supposed battle to have his Vietnamese name recognised by Facebook went viral, has said it was a hoax.

The story of the Australian man made headlines around the world earlier this month after he posted an alleged photograph of his passport with the name Phuc Dat Bich.

In his post he wrote about having his Facebook closed account “down multiple times” and “being forced to” change his name. “I’ve been accused of using a false and misleading name of which I find very offensive.”

He wrote in the post in January of this year but the story wasn’t picked up until recent weeks when it was reported by many news outlets including BBC.com and the Sydney Morning Herald. The post was shared 84,000 times.

On Monday “Phuc Dat Bich” even wrote a Facebook post that he was “ very grateful to those who have been supportive of certain names that populate in different cultures.”

However in a post today he said it “started as a joke between friends” and “a prank that made a fool out of the media and brought out the best in the people who reached out to me. “

“Do you remember the story; The boy who cried wolf? Imagine that boy grew up into a mischievous man with 21st century technology at his finger tips,” he wrote.

“Out of this ordeal I’ve concluded not to trust the credibility of the media,” he said.

"I've never believed it's necessary for it to be mandatory to have your entire name to be published on social media. People should be free to use any name they desire. Facebook needs to understand that it is utterly impossible to legitimise a place where there will always be pranksters and tricksters." he wrote in a post signed Joe Carr (Joker)

The man was contacted by Guardian Australia whom he told that his name was Tin Le, and that he was 23 and lived in Melbourne, but refused requests for verification.