When it comes to the “if it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true” rule, celebrity impersonations are one of the biggest tests. It’s human nature to want to be noticed by someone you admire, but the chances of someone famous reaching out to you, individually, are astronomical at best. You may follow a celebrity on social media and they might legitimately interact with you on that platform, but sending you a DM? Not likely. Scammers take advantage of that basic human need to be noticed, but there are warning signs you need to be aware of.

Fraudsters pretending to be a celebrity is just one aspect of impersonation, also known as “catfishing“, in order to scam you out of money or personal data. Scammers tend to lurk on social media, searching for marks who follow specific celebrities. They might send you a DM via that social media platform, or they might simply send you a text using random phone numbers, hoping for you to respond back. Besides impersonating a celebrity, the fraudster might also pretend to be someone you know and trust (again, they might have gleaned this information by perusing your social media accounts). The goal, regardless of who they are pretending to be, is to convince you to send them money (and sometimes, cryptocurrency like Bitcoin).

These scammers will fabricate all sorts of reasons for you to send them money: claiming a prize, donating to a charity, or offering help of some kind. Of course, many celebrities do raise money for charities but they often work with organizations, helping to promote the cause — they aren’t likely to reach out to individual fans and ask for money.

What should you do when a “celebrity” contacts you via social media or text message and asks for money?

Here’s what the FTC recommends:

▪  Slow down. Before you send money, talk with someone you trust.

▪  Do some research: search online for the celebrity’s name plus “scam.” Do the same with any charity or cause they’re asking you to support—and learn more about charity scams here.

▪  Never send money, gift cards or prepaid debit cards to someone you don’t know or haven’t met – even celebrities you meet on social media.

▪  If you sent money to a scammer, contact the company you used to send the money (your bank, wire transfer service, gift card company, or prepaid debit card company). Tell them the transaction was a fraud. Ask the company to reverse the transaction, if it’s possible.

▪  Report your experience to the social media site and to the FTC.

To learn more about imposter scams, visit FTC.gov/imposters.

From the Better Business Bureau:

How to spot fake celebrity scams

Get familiar with deepfake technology. Scammers use deepfake technology to trick people. They take real video clips and photos of a person and use them to create new videos and audio clips. Deepfake images and videos can be surprisingly realistic. See this BBB article for tips on spotting deepfakes.

Understand how AI-generated images work. With AI image generators, you can type in a few words describing the image you want to be created, and the AI generates an image based on your text. It’s valuable technology, but scammers can abuse it to create images to back up their stories, products, or outright lies. The point? Don’t assume a photo is proof that something is trustworthy.

Know that scammers often impersonate celebrities. Don’t assume celebrity posts, images, or videos are legitimate until you verify they came from an official source. Just because something is shared widely on social media does not mean it’s real. For example, an AI-generated photo of Pope Francis in a designer puffer jacket recently went viral. This deepfake video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling his soldiers to surrender was also widely circulated on social media. Always do your due diligence before you purchase or reshare something you saw on social media.

Only do business with companies you know and trust. If you want to purchase a product or donate, do so through a reputable business or non-profit. If you want to buy something from a company you aren’t familiar with, do plenty of research first. Look up the company name, website, and contact information. Read reviews on BBB.org and do a general search with the company’s name and the word “scam.” Don’t skip this step, even if you’re excited about the product. It’s the best way to protect yourself from fraud and identity theft.