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Duncan Bannatyne

Twitter users turn detective following threat against Duncan Bannatyne’s daughter

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

August 2, 2011 | 2 min read

Twitter users have turned detective after a threat was made against the daughter of Dragons’ Den star and entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne on the microblogging site.

An account set up under the name @YuriVasilyev_ sent four messages threatening Bannatyne’s daughter.

Of the four, only one message link was still active at time of writing: “My name is Yuri Vasilyev and I’m looking for a £35,000 investment to stop us hurting your Hollie Bannatyne. We will bring hurt and pain into your life.

“We are watching her. She is very attractive. Want photos?

“Tweet using the hashtag #4money to confirm payment will be made.”

It has been said that the message was sent from an internet café in Moscow.

Duncan Bannatyne then sent out a tweet offering £25,000 for the capture of the person who sent the message ‘double if his arms are broken first’. He then took down this post and instead messaged “OK £30,000 reward for info leading to his arrest”.

Twitter has been buzzing ever since, some comparing Bannatyne to Liam Neeson, others offering their support or condemning the threat of violence against @YuriVasilyev_.

A large number have tweeted about different accounts under the name, with several tweeting phone numbers, email addresses, a Google+ account and other information belonging to people with the same name – although Bannatyne has admitted a fake name could have been used.

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