For years I have told you about scammers posing as various popular celebrities in ads and on social media luring people into making payments for worthless products.  Scammers also pose as celebrities on social media through which they contact fans of the impersonated celebrity and scam them through romance scams and a variety of other scams. Unfortunately, with the increased of Artificial Intelligence these phony ads and scams have become both more believable looking and more frequent as the deepfake and other AI technology becomes readily available to less technologically savvy scammers.

Recently Reese Witherspoon posted an Instagram story and TikTok video warning fans about scammers posing as her on both of those platforms, contacting unwary fans who think they are having a real relationship with her that just leads to their being scammed.  Despite efforts of Instagram and TikTok to take down phony Reese Witherspoon accounts there are presently dozens of such accounts including @reesewitherspoon private.  Making the problem worse, these phony accounts will actually post actual videos of Reese Witherspoon to make the accounts appear legitimate and make fans who are likely to engage when they are contacted through the account by the scammer posing as Witherspoon.

TIPS

As for any celebrity endorsement, you should not take it at face value.  Confirm on the celebrity’s website to see if they really do endorse a particular product. As for celebrity based romance scam, it is important to recognize that celebrities aren’t reaching out online to people they have never met to start romantic relationships.  Any DM you get from a celebrity asking for money, donations, help with a private matter, inviting you to join a secret fan club, or do anything with cryptocurrencies is a scam.  Any message that indicates they need help with a legal issue, are stuck while traveling, want to reward you if you cover a small fee, or need gift cards is also a scam.

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