These days, celebrities routinely share career news, personal views, even travel videos on social media and interact with fans in comment threads. But if you get a direct message out of the blue from a favorite musician, actor or athlete, don’t get starry-eyed, get skeptical — it’s almost certainly a scam.
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram teem with bogus celebrity accounts set up to deceive devoted fans. Scammers reach out to the real star’s followers, asking for money under a variety of pretexts:
- Donations to charity(sometimes for a cause associated with the actual celeb)
- Exclusive tickets to private concerts or meet-and-greets
- A surefire investment, often a cryptocurrency deal purporting to come from a famous business mogul
- Processing fees for a big prize giveaway
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Another popular tactic is the phony livestream. The impostor account features a video commandeered from a star’s real social feed along with a message promising a cash prize to the first, say, 500 people who comment with a specified phrase or identify something hidden in an optical illusion. Respondents get a direct message asking for a bank account number or other personal data to facilitate a supposed payment.
Any celebrity with a social media presence can have their star power exploited by a scammer. Con artists are especially fond of abusing the bond between country music stars and their fans. Recent callers to the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline report scams name-checking Nashville icons Toby Keith, George Strait, Pam Tillis, Clint Black, Sara Evans and Travis Tritt, among others.
Impostors often seek targets by trawling comments on a fan page and responding with a personal message supposedly from the star. For example, if you post “I love you, Blake Shelton!” on the singer’s real Facebook or Instagram page, you might hear back from something like #SecretBlakeSheltonacct. The Blake impostor will say he’s flattered, values your fandom and would love to meet you ... if you first donate to his charity.
Fortunately, it’s not difficult to spot sham stars and counterfeit accounts if you know the red flags.
