Celebrity Romance Scams Are Fooling More Fans Than Ever

We hear stories about scammers all the time and they're more and more creative as celebrity romance scams are fooling more fans than ever.

We all have our favorite celebrities that I'm sure we would be thrilled to connect with on social media. I can think of a few right off the top of my head that I would seriously freak out about. Hi, Jason Momoa. But while it is a possibility for that to actually happen, I'm sure the chances are extremely low. Because scammers are getting more advanced, sometimes it may be hard to tell what's real and what's not. However, most messages that I've seen from friends who have gotten them, are riddled with typos and bizarre requests. Common sense should kick in at some point. But every scammer is different and clearly they can be pretty convincing because these celebrity scams are fooling more fans that ever.

I always feel so bad when I hear someone fall victim to a celebrity romance scam. I imagine they're extremely lonely and vulnerable that the attention is welcome whether it comes with good intentions or not. These scammers are really good at building emotional trust over time, sometimes chatting for weeks or months, before asking for money under the guise of a personal emergency, legal trouble, or a promise of finally meeting in person. By then, because the victims believe these are the actual celebrities they're building a connection with, they'll do just about anything.

Some of the celebrities we've heard that have been impersonated by scammers include Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves and George Clooney. And now Kevin Costner is the latest. And there are probably plenty more that people either haven't realized are scammers yet, or don't want to admit it. In this case, it was a woman in Illinois who ended up sending the scammer over $60,000 in gift cards over 6 months.

Scammers love gift cards. If anyone ever asks you to send them, please let that be a huge red flag. That also goes for any kind of money, wire transfers, pre-paid debit cards.

Be careful out there.