Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, folks. Miles here.
Before we get started, I want to give you a quick preview of what you're about to hear in today's episode of behind the Scams.
This isn't just a story about people losing money online.
It's a deep dive into a global fraud phenomenon that's hurting real people in ways most of us never imagine.
Nick and sue are pulling back the curtain on the Keanu Reeves celebrity impersonation scammer.
We're talking about romance scams, cryptocurrency fraud, fake endorsements, and even industrial scale scam operations fueled by human trafficking overseas.
You'll hear the real story of Margaret, a 73 year old woman who lost her life savings to someone she thought was Kevin Costner.
Plus, we'll explore how investigative journalists are going undercover and what the real Keanu Reeves is doing to fight back.
So if you've got family members, friends, or anyone in your circle who could be vulnerable, this is one episode you'll want to pay close attention to.
Let's get into it.
[00:01:05] Speaker B: Thank you, Miles. Hello and welcome back to another episode of behind the Scams. I'm your host, Nick, and as always, I'm joined by my beautiful wife and my co host, Sue.
[00:01:16] Speaker C: It's great to be back, Nick. Today we're diving into a topic that's both fascinating and honestly, pretty alarming. The rising trend of celebrity impersonation scams.
[00:01:29] Speaker B: Absolutely, Sue. We'll be uncovering some truly shocking real life consequences of these deceptive schemes, from financial ruin to profound emotional distress. It's a wild world out there. So today, sue, we're kicking off with a really heartbreaking story that unfortunately is becoming far too common.
It's the case of Margaret, a 73 year old woman from the rural South.
Much of the information we will be referencing was obtained from a fantastic and insightful article by Rebecca Keegan in the Hollywood Reporter on July 9.
I came across the article and was so impressed by its thoroughness and attention to detail, I knew right then and there we had to do a podcast episode.
It fits right into our nonprofit's mission, and that is preventing scams as best we can.
Delivering stories like this certainly helps in our mission.
[00:02:29] Speaker C: I know, Nick. I remember what happened after you read the article. It's still so vivid in my mind. You came running into our office and pushed me off of the typewriter and started pecking away at our podcast script.
So I'm already bracing myself. What happened to Margaret, Nick?
[00:02:46] Speaker B: Typewriter. Come on, sue, you're dating yourself.
Most people today don't even know what a typewriter is, which is good. Let's leave those miserable things in the past right where they belong.
But great attempt at humor. But I must admit that I was excited to get to this story, sue, because it has all the classic hallmarks of an impersonation scam.
But before we begin, our thanks to Rebecca Keegan of the Hollywood Reporter for such a great piece.
We truly appreciate stories like this that help bring the destructiveness of impersonation scams to light.
We encourage all our listeners to read her article from July 9th.
It is available online at hollywoodreporter.com or through their weekly print magazine.
The article is entitled this is Not Keanu Inside the Billion Dollar Celebrity Impersonation Bitcoin Scam. Well, back to the story.
Margaret found herself ensnared in one of these celebrity impersonation scams, specifically involving someone she believed was none other than Kevin Costner.
And what makes her case particularly devastating is the sheer amount of money she lost.
We're talking about approximately $100,000, or all of it in Bitcoin.
[00:04:08] Speaker C: $100,000 in Bitcoin. That's. That's absolutely shocking, Nick. How does someone even get to that point, believing they're sending that much money to a celebrity they've only met on Facebook?
[00:04:22] Speaker B: That's the million dollar question, isn't it? Or in Margaret's case, the hundred thousand dollar question.
The scammer posing as Costner convinced her that she was financing his new production company and that she would eventually work for him.
Margaret had been making weekly bitcoin deposits for months.
[00:04:43] Speaker C: Work for Kevin Costner. I mean, with all due respect to Margaret, a retired office manager, that sounds like a massive red flag right there.
Did she not question why an Oscar winner like Kevin Costner would need financing help from a private individual he met on Facebook?
[00:05:00] Speaker B: You'd think so, right? But here's where the psychological manipulation really comes into play.
Margaret, from her perspective, wasn't just somebody the article mentions. She had achieved some renown for activism, even delivered a TED Talk. She saw herself as special, and she believed Costner saw it, too. This played directly into a need for validation.
[00:05:25] Speaker C: So it wasn't just about the money or even the celebrity connection, but also about her own sense of self worth and validation.
That's a really terrible angle to exploit. Was there anything else going on in her life that made her particularly vulnerable?
[00:05:42] Speaker B: Absolutely.
The article paints a very clear picture of her situation.
Margaret was lonely and restless. Her marriage of 10 years was reportedly failing. Her career had ended, and her kids and grandkids were busy with their own lives.
These messages, this connection with Kevin Costner represented welcome male attention. A fantasy she could escape into when her real life became, well, too real.
[00:06:11] Speaker C: Oh, no. Really? So it was less about the specific celebrity and more about the attention and emotional void that the scammer was so expertly filling.
That's just heartbreaking. It preys on such deep human needs.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: Exactly. They hone in on those vulnerabilities.
The scammer would send her messages, make her feel incredibly special, and build up this elaborate fantasy.
Margaret truly believed she had a unique connection with him.
[00:06:43] Speaker C: But still, Bitcoin and a production company. What kind of evidence did this Kevin Costner provide to make this all seem legitimate? Because sending $100,000 overtime, that's a commitment.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: That's a great point, Sue. And yes, the scammer did provide some proof.
In one instance, he sent her a photo.
The description is quite vivid.
The actor leaned against the wooden headboard of a bed in a white T shirt holding a piece of paper that read, it's really me, Kevin Costner. I love you so much, Margaret. I can't wait to meet you. Margaret, if you read the original article from the Hollywood Reporter, you can see this picture. Let's just say that the edited photo looks as if the scammer's budget didn't cover a real graphics designer or Photoshop maestro.
[00:07:36] Speaker C: Wait, hold on. Are you saying it was a picture of a Kevin Costner with a handwritten note specifically for her? That's. Wow, that's surprisingly detailed. How would they even get something like that or manipulate it?
[00:07:51] Speaker B: Well, that's the thing. It's often a photoshopped image or a deepfake made to look authentic. The scammers are getting incredibly sophisticated with their tools. Often aided by AI, they exploit the vast number of images and videos of celebrities available online.
They can make it look incredibly real, especially to someone who desperately wants to believe.
And the personal touch, like her name written on the paper, that just amplifies the sense of a genuine private connection.
[00:08:27] Speaker C: That's crazy. How do people fall for that? I mean, you see a picture, sure, but then handing over such a significant amount of money in Bitcoin for a production company, didn't any alarms go off in her head or her family's?
[00:08:42] Speaker B: You'd think the alarms would be blaring, but the psychological hold, as one expert in the article describes it, is cult like.
It absolutely overwhelms any type of reasonable thought.
This isn't a quick con. It's a long Game of emotional manipulation, building trust, and isolating the victim.
Margaret's sister Carol later revealed her worries, saying Margaret's thing was, I just want somebody to love me.
This scammer tapped directly into that deep need.
[00:09:16] Speaker C: So it was a slow burn then. Not just one big request for money, but weekly bitcoin deposits building up to that massive sum. And I imagine with each deposit, she probably felt more invested, more committed to this fantasy.
[00:09:32] Speaker B: Precisely. Each payment, each message reinforced the illusion she was actively participating in building this dream. And the scammer kept feeding that dream with promises of a future together, a job, and this special bond. It's incredibly difficult to step back and see the red flags when you're emotionally entangled like that.
She was looking forward to this new chapter, this exciting opportunity to work with him.
[00:10:04] Speaker C: And I guess the fact that it was bitcoin might have made it seem less traceable or somehow more exclusive, like it was a special, secret way of doing business with a celebrity.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: That's a good observation, Sue.
Crypto can certainly add another layer of complexity and perceived legitimacy for someone who might not fully understand.
Feels very modern, very in the know.
Plus, it's harder to trace than a traditional bank transfer, which benefits the scammer.
The article doesn't go into whether she was already familiar with bitcoin, but it's often a method scammers push because of its irreversible nature once sent.
[00:10:50] Speaker C: So they prey on loneliness, on a desire for connection, on people feeling special, and then use these modern payment methods and sophisticated digital, digital trickery to make it all seem plausible. It's a really dark combination.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: It is, Sue. And Margaret, sadly, is just one example of how powerful and devastating these scams can be.
Her story really highlights the deep emotional manipulation involved, how victims are not just losing money, but often their sense of reality and trust in themselves. It's a profound betrayal.
So Margaret was completely in this fantasy, deeply invested emotionally and financially. And as the article tells us, it all culminated in a planned meeting.
She was so convinced, so ready.
[00:11:41] Speaker C: A meeting, as in she was going to physically meet Kevin Costner. Oh, wow, I didn't know that. That's a whole other level of commitment and belief. Where was this supposed to happen?
[00:11:53] Speaker B: Yes, a physical meeting. The plan had shifted from her flying out to LA to them meeting at a hotel in her home state. And get this, Sue. Margaret had her suitcases packed for weeks, just waiting for that moment.
She drove an hour from her home in the rural south, left her husband and went to this hotel.
Absolutely sure Kevin Costner was Coming to.
[00:12:19] Speaker C: Meet her, her suitcases packed for weeks. The anticipation must have been immense. She was truly living this alternative reality, wasn't she? It's just so incredibly sad to imagine her in that state. So full of hope.
[00:12:34] Speaker B: It really is.
She arrived at the hotel on pins and needles, waiting for him. But then, as she waited, the scammer sent her a photo.
[00:12:45] Speaker C: Oh, no.
What kind of photo? Please tell me it wasn't another doctored image of him still playing along.
[00:12:51] Speaker B: No, it wasn't this time. It was a picture of a mangled car. And the message? He claimed he'd been in an accident and wouldn't make it after all.
[00:13:01] Speaker C: An accident? That's. That's such a classic awful scammer tactic. It's a sudden external crisis that prevents the meeting. Did she believe it? Or did that finally break through as.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: She stared at that photo?
Sue. All the warning signs that she had been willfully avoiding over those months of build up and bitcoin payments, they finally began to creep into view.
It was a crushing realization.
She took the initiative to do a reverse Google image search on the photo.
[00:13:32] Speaker C: Wait, she did a reverse image search? So she had some tech savviness then, even after all this?
[00:13:38] Speaker B: Exactly. And that search revealed the devastating truth.
That mangled car photo.
It was posted all over the Internet. It wasn't Kevin Costner's car. And more importantly, this wasn't Kevin Costner. Her fantasy man was not coming to whisk her away.
[00:13:56] Speaker C: Oh, the heartbreak. That must have been an absolutely gut wrenching moment. Everything she had invested, everything she had believed in just shattered in an instant.
[00:14:09] Speaker B: Her sister Carol describes her as hysterical in that moment. Can you imagine, after months of pouring her money and her heart into this, driving an hour, sitting there full of hope, only for it to unravel so cruelly.
[00:14:25] Speaker C: I can only imagine the utter devastation, the betrayal and the humiliation too, to realize you've been so completely fooled. Did she just pack up and go home right then?
[00:14:37] Speaker B: It was too late to drive home.
So Margaret spent the night at the hotel.
The article says she spent the night beating herself up for having been so stupid. That self blame, that shame. It's a terrible part of the aftermath for so many victims.
[00:14:54] Speaker C: That's absolutely awful. And I remember from the earlier part of the article that her sister Carol had expressed worries. Was Carol aware of the extent. Extent of this fantasy Margaret was living? Did she try to intervene?
[00:15:08] Speaker B: Yes, Carol was very much aware and deeply worried. She had been trying to talk sense into Margaret. In the article, Carol says, I said, don't you think it's weird that all these men are after you?
I don't tell Margaret anything to tickle her ears. I don't go along with it. I say, Margaret, it's not him.
But she acts like I'm jealous of her because my life is not about to change.
She swallows it hook, line and sinker.
[00:15:37] Speaker C: Oh, wow. So her own sister, who clearly cared for her, was trying to open her eyes. And Margaret was so deeply entrenched in the delusion that she saw it as jealousy. That's just it speaks volumes about the psychological grip these scammers have. They isolate their victims from their support systems.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: They do.
It's part of that cult like hold we talked about earlier.
The scammer had likely already planted seeds of doubt about anyone who might question their relationship.
It makes it incredibly difficult for family members to break through.
Carol says, I feel like she's gotten isolated now, and I'm sure that's the purpose of it.
[00:16:24] Speaker C: That's so true. The emotional toll here is just immense.
Losing $100,000 is financially ruinous, but the damage to her self worth, her trust, her relationships, that's almost worse. And the shame of it all means many victims don't even report it.
[00:16:44] Speaker B: Precisely. The FBI reported $672 million in losses to confidence and romance scams in 2024.
But those figures don't even include people like Margaret who will never tell law enforcement what happened to them out of shame, fear of their scammers, or even that tiny lingering hope that just maybe it had been a real relationship.
[00:17:10] Speaker C: That's heartbreaking. So it's not just the money. It's the profound emotional injury and the isolation. The scammers truly strip away everything.
You know, Nick, hearing Margaret's story and how deep she was into it, it really makes you wonder about the psychology behind these scams. How do these scammers get such a powerful hold over people? It sounds almost cult like.
[00:17:36] Speaker B: That's exactly the term experts use now. Having been involved investigating financial crimes during my law enforcement career, I have seen lots of mind games played by fraudsters. You name it, sue, they have tried it. But the psychological hold that these modern day scammers have on their victims is like nothing I've ever seen.
It is cult like. It absolutely overwhelms any type of reasonable thought.
They're able to overcome what humans would normally discern to be a ridiculous situation.
[00:18:10] Speaker C: Wow, that's surprising.
Cult like. So it's not just about tricking someone. It's about a complete mental takeover. Almost how do they even begin to establish that kind of control?
What are they targeting in their victims?
[00:18:25] Speaker B: They prey on very fundamental human vulnerabilities. Sue. In Margaret's case, the article points out, she was lonely and restless. Her marriage was failing, her career had ended, and her kids and grandkids were busy. The Costner messages weren't just about a celebrity. They represented welcome male attention, a fantasy to escape into when real life felt too hard.
Her sister Carol said her thing is, I just want somebody to love me.
[00:18:56] Speaker C: Oh, that makes so much sense. It's not about being gullible. It's about emotional needs being exploited. They identify a void and then fill it with this elaborate, seemingly perfect fantasy. It's so deceptive.
[00:19:12] Speaker B: Exactly. They create this personalized narrative, often building on pre existing admiration or trust people have for a celebrity. They don't just ask for money. They build a relationship, however fake. They create an emotional dependency.
This relationship then becomes the primary source of validation, attention, and excitement in the victim's life, making it incredibly difficult for them to see the red flags or accept that it's a scam.
[00:19:45] Speaker C: That's crazy. How do people fall for that? I mean, intellectually you'd think Kevin Costner needs my Bitcoin. But if they've completely captured your emotional world, then. Then logic takes a back seat, right?
[00:19:59] Speaker B: Precisely. It really does overwhelm any type of reasonable thought.
These scammers are incredibly skilled psychologists, often working with scripts developed by experts in human behavior. They learn to isolate the victim, to make them feel special, and to undermine any external voices of doubt, like Margaret's sister Carol.
Now, I know it rubs some people wrong when I say that scammers are incredibly good at what they do. And what they do is, is steal people's money with psychological tricks and deception, which they are very good at and should never, ever be underestimated.
[00:20:41] Speaker C: It's truly terrifying. And given how pervasive these scams are, who is most vulnerable? Is there a particular demographic that's being targeted more frequently or losing more money?
[00:20:52] Speaker B: Unfortunately, yes.
The FBI reports that Americans lost a staggering 672 million to confidence and romance scams in 2024.
And the demographic most affected?
People over 60.
[00:21:09] Speaker C: People over 60. Oh, no. Really?
That's heartbreaking. Lots of people have parents who are in that age group, and there are certainly a large number of people around the world in that demographic. So scammers certainly have a large pool of people to target.
What kind of losses are we talking about for them?
[00:21:30] Speaker B: The average loss for victims over 60 is about 83,000 per person. And that figure doesn't even include people like Margaret who will never report what happened to them out of shame, fear, or a lingering hope that maybe, just maybe, it wasn't all fake.
That means the true financial and emotional cost is. Is likely much, much higher.
[00:21:54] Speaker C: $83,000 on average. That's a life savings for many people and so many unreported cases.
It's a silent epidemic of financial and emotional ruin. The shame must be immense, Like Margaret feeling stupid for falling for it.
[00:22:13] Speaker B: It is. The scammers not only steal money, but often leave behind a deep sense of betrayal and humiliation and isolation.
It completely erodes their trust in others and often in themselves. You know, sue, while Margaret's story is a classic example of a romance scam, it's crucial to understand that celebrity impersonation scams extend far beyond just preying on people's desire for love or attention.
This is a much wider, more dangerous and destructive epidemic.
[00:22:51] Speaker C: Oh, wow. I didn't know that. So it's not just about meeting your favorite star. What other forms do these scams take?
[00:22:58] Speaker B: No, not at all. The article highlights that scammers are increasingly using celebrity likenesses for a whole host of other deceptive schemes. We're talking about fake investment opportunities where they claim a celebrity is endorsing a hot new crypto or or stock. Then there are false product endorsements where they make it look like a star is promoting some health supplement or financial service. And it even goes into bogus political messaging where they doctor images or videos to make it seem like a celebrity supports a particular candidate or cause.
[00:23:38] Speaker C: That's crazy. So it's not just about one person losing their life savings in a romance, but potentially influencing elections or tricking people into bad investments that could affect thousands. The scale of this problem sounds absolutely massive. How are these scammers managing to create such convincing fakes across so many different categories?
[00:24:03] Speaker B: Well, the tools available to them are rapidly evolving.
Think about it. AI generated deep fakes, cryptocurrencies for untraceable payments, and private messaging apps that make it incredibly easy to disseminate these fakes and operate largely undetected.
It's an escalating game of Whack a mole for stars and talent agencies.
[00:24:26] Speaker C: Whack a mole. That's a perfect description. So what are celebrities and their teams doing to fight back against this? Is there any legislation being proposed to stop it?
[00:24:36] Speaker B: Absolutely.
Hollywood is definitely taking notice, and they're hiring companies specifically to scan the web for fakes and get those fraudulent accounts shut. Down. But beyond that, there are significant legislative efforts underway. For instance, some 400 performers, including Scarlett Johansson, Common, and even SAG AFTRA president Fran Drescher, have signed on to support legislation making its way through Congress called the no Fakes Act.
[00:25:08] Speaker C: The no Fakes Act. That's fantastic. What exactly does it aim to do?
[00:25:12] Speaker B: It seeks to create protections for artists, voices, likenesses, and images from unauthorized AI generated deepfakes.
It's a crucial step because, as Nick Berta, a supervisory special agent in the FBI's Economic Crimes Unit, points out, celebrities just have so many images out there. The ease with which scammers can use their tools to manipulate voice and audio and video has made it very difficult for law enforcement as well as celebrities to control this epidemic.
[00:25:48] Speaker C: Wow. It sounds like a necessary, if difficult, fight. I mean, if someone can take a picture of Jamie Lee Curtis and make it look like she's endorsing some dental product without her knowledge or consent, it really underscores how vulnerable everyone is. Not just the general public, but the celebrities themselves. They're battling their own images. Being weaponized.
[00:26:16] Speaker B: Exactly. It's a double edged sword. Their fame makes them targets, but their sheer volume of public images makes them almost impossible to fully protect.
And when their image is used for something like a fake investment scam, it undermines the trust their fans have in them, which is devastating. You know, speaking of how these scammers operate and how difficult it is to protect public figures, the journalist who wrote this article, a really insightful piece by Lacey Rose for the Hollywood Reporter, decided to go beyond just interviewing experts and victims. She decided to go undercover herself.
[00:26:57] Speaker C: Oh, really? She set herself up to be scammed? That's brave. Or maybe a little crazy. How did she do that?
[00:27:05] Speaker B: Well, she decided to make herself look like an ideal target for these celebrity romance scams. She created a fake social media profile, a woman she named Linda.
To make her seem more authentic and frankly, more vulnerable to the types of scams we've been discussing, she used AI to age up one of her selfies. And get this, she invented a whole backstory for Linda. A beloved dead husband named Bob and a scruffy terrier mix named Milo. Then she just followed a bunch of pop culture accounts.
[00:27:43] Speaker C: Wow, that's quite the commitment to the experiment. So what happened once Linda was out there? Did anyone bite?
[00:27:50] Speaker B: Bite?
Sue? They didn't just bite, they swarmed.
The article says that within 90 minutes, an account named Keanu Reeves, 68667, was DMing her, wanting to know how long she'd been a fan.
[00:28:08] Speaker C: 90 minutes. That's surprising. That's incredibly fast.
[00:28:11] Speaker B: And it gets crazier. Within two hours, four more Keanu had slid into her DMs. Not just Keanu, though. She also had two Kevin Costners, a Charlie Hunnam, and even a Jonathan Roumie. The actor who plays Jesus on the Christian TV series the Chosen.
[00:28:31] Speaker C: Oh, no. Really? Multiple versions of the same person? That's absolutely wild. And so, so fast. It just goes to show, how many of these fake accounts are out there just waiting.
Did she follow any female celebrities, or was it mostly male stars? Impersonators reaching out?
[00:28:50] Speaker B: That's an excellent question and something the reporter specifically highlighted. She mentioned that while she followed accounts for Dolly Parton, Oprah Winfrey, and Sandra Bullock, most of the scammers who targeted her over the next six weeks were. Were impersonating male stars over 50.
Reeves is 60, Costner is 70, and Rumi is 51.
[00:29:13] Speaker C: So it wasn't just random. There was a clear demographic they were targeting. That's fascinating and a little chilling. So male stars over 50 for older women. That lines up with Margaret's story, doesn't it? She was 73 and. And believed she was talking to Kevin Costner.
[00:29:34] Speaker B: Exactly. Experts say that this demographic of celebrity is actually the most likely to be imitated in these types of scams. It really speaks to the predatory nature of these operations.
They've clearly identified who their ideal targets are and who is most likely to resonate with those targets.
It's a sad reality that they exploit people's desires for connection and in some cases, a bit of fantasy.
[00:30:05] Speaker C: So Linda got all these messages. Which celebrity scammer did the reporter decide to engage with? Did she choose one to go deeper with?
[00:30:15] Speaker B: She did. She decided she was Keanu curious, as she put it, and she let Keanu Reeves 68667 talk her into taking their conversation to Telegram, which is a private messaging app. The scammer wanted to do it quickly, knowing his Instagram account wouldn't last long once Lottie, a company we'll talk about soon, came knocking.
[00:30:42] Speaker C: Wait, hold on. Are you saying they actually expect to be shut down from platforms like Instagram so quickly that they try to move the conversation to a private app almost immediately?
[00:30:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I know it sounds unbelievable, but scammers are incredibly efficient.
They know the clock is ticking on their public profiles, so they always push to move conversations to less regulated, more private channels like WhatsApp, Telegram, or Google Chat, where they can operate with far less scrutiny. It's part of their standard playbook. That's what happened with Linda and Keanu Reeves.
68667.
The reporter followed him to Telegram. And what she learned from that interaction and from talking to experts really shed light on the methodical way these scammers operate. It's not just random, as we touched on earlier.
[00:31:37] Speaker C: So there are specific patterns to who they impersonate and who they target.
You mentioned male stars over 50 for older women, which Linda's experiment confirmed. Is it that precise?
[00:31:50] Speaker B: It absolutely is, Sue.
The criminals behind these scams are incredibly efficient.
They exploit the broadest gender stereotypes of people's ideal partners.
When they're targeting older men, for example, the scammer typically creates a profile of a beautiful but not famous younger woman. She's often located in another country, might appear to be in some kind of distress or need of help. And here's the kicker. She'll definitely think his golf trophies are impressive.
[00:32:22] Speaker C: For older women, it's a completely different template, and it's much more insidious because it preys on a deeper emotional connection.
They create a man whom the woman already respects, already trusts, already has romantic desires about, already has a personal connection to.
That's a quote from Marty Delemma, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota's School of Social Work who studies elder fraud. That makes so much sense when you think about it.
Margaret already admired Kevin Costner, had seen him in movies, probably felt a sense of familiarity or even affection for his public Persona. It bypasses that initial scale skepticism you might have for a complete stranger. It's a shortcut to trust, isn't it?
[00:33:14] Speaker B: Precisely. And Delima, the expert, actually acknowledges that. She says, and I quote, yes, the vast majority of people would be highly skeptical that this really famous person is responding to them, which is true. Most of us would think this can't be real.
[00:33:36] Speaker C: Right. My first thought would be, why would Kevin Costner be messaging me on Facebook?
[00:33:42] Speaker B: That's right. But here's the scammer's counter strategy. But you don't need to get everybody. You cast your net broadly, see who falls into it, work really hard to build trust, and hope that you can move from them. Just responding to them being willing to give you money, and then you up.
[00:34:01] Speaker C: The ante, cast a broad net.
That's a really chilling phrase in this context.
So they just send out thousands of these fake DMs, hoping to catch even a tiny percentage of people who might be vulnerable or just curious enough to respond.
It's a numbers game for them, isn't it?
[00:34:22] Speaker B: It absolutely is. Think about it if they send out a million messages and only 1/10 of 1% respond, that's still a thousand potential victims. And out of that thousand, if they can convert even a small fraction into actual financial losses, they've made a significant profit.
It's pure volume combined with a highly targeted psychological approach.
[00:34:48] Speaker C: And it goes back to what you said about loneliness earlier, doesn't it? If someone is feeling isolated or looking for connection, that broad net suddenly feels very personal, like they were chosen. It's a very clever, very cruel trick.
[00:35:04] Speaker B: It is. And the Linda experiment proved just how quickly that net catches people. Within minutes, multiple celebrity impersonators were reaching out. It wasn't just one fake Keanu Reeves, it was five and two Kevin Costner's. They're just constantly fishing and the bait is celebrity.
[00:35:27] Speaker C: So once they hook someone, the next step is to work really hard to build trust.
How do they go about doing that? What tactics did Linda experience once she started communicating with the fake Keanu Reeves on Telegram?
[00:35:43] Speaker B: Well, the first thing the fake Keanu Reeves did after moving the conversation to Telegram was start sending Linda tinny sounding voice memos.
This is a common tactic to make the interaction feel more real, more personal.
[00:35:58] Speaker C: A voice memo? I mean, how convincing was it? Could you tell it wasn't really Keanu?
[00:36:03] Speaker B: The reporter described the voice as sounding like a Bill and Ted era. Reeves crossed with an NHL broadcaster, noting that Reeves grew up in Toronto.
So not perfectly convincing, but perhaps enough to make a hopeful victim think maybe it's just a bad connection.
Or to let their desire for it to be real override their logical assessment. And yes, they moved to money very quickly. He was trying to get her to buy a six hundred dollar fan club membership card so they could meet in person for sure.
[00:36:39] Speaker C: That's crazy. How do people fall for that? I mean, a fan club card to meet Keanu reeves and for $600?
[00:36:46] Speaker B: It sounds unbelievable, doesn't it? But remember that psychological hold we talked about?
Once the victim is emotionally invested, the scammers start to escalate. When Linda asked for verification before sending the money, her fake Keanu Reeves sent her a picture of a driver's license with Reeves's photo, but the address had him living somewhere under a freeway overpass in downtown Los Angeles.
[00:37:13] Speaker C: One common tactic we see in most of these celebrity impersonation and romance scams is that they reel you in with flattery, then snap back with anger or dismissal if you show doubt. That's a classic abuser's tactic. Another common scammer tactic is to isolate the Victim. Did he try to isolate Linda from her real life connection?
[00:37:36] Speaker B: He absolutely did. When Linda invented a daughter she would need to check with before sending money for the membership card, he deployed another tactic commonly used by abusers.
He told her she should keep their relationship secret.
He said, I don't think letting your daughter know about our relationship is the best thing. Now, Linda, do you understand that no one will believe you? Talk to me.
You need to keep our conversations away from your families.
Let it be just you and I. Oh, my goodness.
[00:38:12] Speaker C: That's horrifying.
So it's not just about stealing money. It's about control and cutting off their support system. That's truly disgusting. It makes you wonder how many victims are out there like Margaret, who are completely isolated and unable to talk to their families about what's happening?
[00:38:32] Speaker B: Exactly. It's a key part of the playbook.
Isolate the victim, build intense trust, then escalate demands while shutting down any external voices of reason.
It's designed to make the victim feel like the scammer is their only true confidant and that no one else will understand or believe them. It really is a terrible trap.
[00:38:54] Speaker C: And.
[00:38:54] Speaker B: And speaking of traps, or rather, the bait used in these traps, it leads us to a fascinating and frankly, a bit unsettling discovery the reporter made in her experiment while she followed accounts for Dolly Parton, Oprah Winfrey, and Sandra Bullock. Most of the scammers who targeted her over those six weeks were impersonating male stars over 50.
Reeves is 60, Costner is 70. But here's the kicker. Keanu Reeves might just be the most impersonated celebrity on the Internet.
[00:39:30] Speaker C: Wait, hold on. Keanu Reeves? Seriously? Why him? I mean, he's beloved, for sure, but the most impersonated? That's surprising.
[00:39:40] Speaker B: It's because of a combination of factors, according to the experts, the chief one being that pretty much everybody everywhere on earth likes Keanu Reeves. And he has this universal appeal. But it's not just that he's likable. It's also that he's mysterious.
[00:39:56] Speaker C: Mysterious? How so?
[00:39:57] Speaker B: He has no real social media accounts, for one, and he isn't known for sharing much about himself publicly. This creates an information vacuum, and opportunists are taking full advantage of it. They've created thousands of fake images of Reeves being whatever kind of man they need him to be for a potential victim.
[00:40:18] Speaker C: Oh, wow. I didn't know that. So because he's not really present online, it makes it easier for scammers to create these fake Personas, and people might be more likely to believe it is him because there's no official presence to compare it to. That's really clever in a terrible way.
[00:40:37] Speaker B: It is pretty clever, Sue. They fill that void and it gets even more detailed.
There's a whole sub genre of fakery where Reeves appears to hold up a T shirt with political messaging on it. Sometimes pro left, sometimes pro right. In one doctored image, he appears to be endorsing Donald Trump.
In another, he's raising awareness of indigenous children forced into abusive boarding schools in Canada.
[00:41:08] Speaker C: That's crazy. So they're not just using him for romance scams, but for political messaging too. How do they even create those? Are they deep fakes?
[00:41:19] Speaker B: Many of these are photoshopped alterations of a Getty Images picture of Reeves attending a motorcycle fair in Italy back in 2017.
So it's not always full blown deepfake videos, but often just manipulated images.
The goal is simply to make it look like him endorsing or saying something to lend credibility to whatever message they're pushing. And he's so ubiquitous as scambait that Becky Holmes, a UK based publicist, actually wrote a book about online scammers and titled it, get this, Keanu Reeves is not in love with you.
[00:41:58] Speaker C: Keanu Reeves is not in love with you.
Oh, my goodness, that's. Wow, that really hammers home just how pervasive this is, doesn't it? So he's basically the poster child for celebrity impersonation scams.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: He absolutely is. Becky Holmes, the author, puts it simply, Keanu is kind of an enigma. As a scam. He works, and if he works, they keep doing it. It's a sad reality, but for these criminals, it's about effectiveness. And Keanu Reeves's image is incredibly effective.
[00:42:36] Speaker C: So what does the real Keanu Reeves think about all this? Does he even know how much his image is being used to defraud people?
[00:42:44] Speaker B: He is well aware, Sue. According to Luke Aragoni, the CEO of a company called Lottie, who we'll talk about more in a minute, Reeves cares very much about how his fans are treated, and he's very invested in trying to solve this problem.
He's actively trying to combat it, which tells you how severe the issue is. It's not just an inconvenience for him. It's a serious issue affecting his fans.
[00:43:12] Speaker C: Oh, that makes sense. It would be devastating to know your image is being used to hurt people, especially people who admire you.
So he's actively working to shut these down. That's a relief to hear.
[00:43:26] Speaker B: He is. And that leads us directly to Our next point. And to someone working on the front lines of this fight.
Remember I mentioned Luke Aragoni, CEO of a company called Lati?
[00:43:37] Speaker C: Yes, you did. You said he's helping Reeves with this problem.
[00:43:40] Speaker B: That's right. Luke Aragoni is a math grad from Colombia, and he actually ran an AI company before founding Lottie. His company, which is three years old, is paid by the real Keanu Reeves a few thousand dollars a month to find his imitators and to get companies like TikTok and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, to shut them down.
[00:44:02] Speaker C: Oh, wow. So it's a dedicated service just for this? That's wild. How effective are they? Given the sheer volume of these fake accounts you described?
[00:44:12] Speaker B: Incredibly effective, considering the scale.
The article states that Lottie had already issued nearly 40,000 account takedown orders on Reeves's behalf over the past year. 40,000. Can you believe that?
[00:44:25] Speaker C: 40,000. That's an insane number. It really puts into perspective how many impersonators there are out there. But then, if they're getting that many taken down, why do these scams still proliferate so much?
Are the social media platforms slow to act?
[00:44:44] Speaker B: That's a huge part of the problem.
It typically takes a social media platform about 48 hours to handle Lottie's takedown orders.
In that brief window, scammers can do a lot of damage. They're constantly creating new accounts. It's a constant game of whack a mole.
[00:45:03] Speaker C: So even if an account is flagged, they have two full days to keep scamming. That's like a lifetime in online terms for these fast moving operations. No wonder it's so hard to stop them.
[00:45:15] Speaker B: Exactly. And the reporter saw this firsthand with Keanu Reeves. 68667.
While the real Reeves was on a red carpet promoting John Wick and holding hands with his partner, the fake Keanu was trying to get the reporter as Linda to buy a $600 fan club membership card so they could meet in person. For sure.
[00:45:40] Speaker C: Always about the money, isn't it? These scammers are relentless.
[00:45:43] Speaker B: So true on both points, Sue.
[00:45:45] Speaker C: Boy, this fake Keanu Reeves was clearly trying to sound like the real Keanu. But he wasn't helped by bad audio equipment and a poor Keanu Reeves imitation.
What did she do when he asked for money?
[00:45:58] Speaker B: Well, when she asked for verification before sending money, he sent a picture of a driver's license with Reeves's photo. You know, the one I mentioned previously, that had an address that would have him living somewhere under a freeway overpass in downtown Los Angeles. And get this. A stern voice memo from her very mad fake Keanu saying, I owe you nothing.
[00:46:21] Speaker C: Ouch. That's a stark contrast to the beautiful soul line he used on her previously, isn't it? That's so aggressive, really pushing the victim.
[00:46:32] Speaker B: Yeah, I know it sounds unbelievable, but scammers are incredibly convincing.
When she invented a daughter she'd need to check with before zelling him money, he deployed a technique commonly used by abusers, saying that she should keep their relationship secret.
[00:46:49] Speaker C: Wait, hold on. Are you saying he told her to keep it from her family?
[00:46:53] Speaker B: Precisely.
He said, I don't think letting your daughter know about our relationship is the best thing. Now, Linda, do you understand that no one will believe you. Talk to me. You need to keep our conversations away from your families.
Let it be just you and I.
[00:47:11] Speaker C: That's incredibly manipulative. It isolates the victim, makes them feel like it's them against the world and that only this person Person understands them. And of course, it keeps them from getting advice from trusted loved ones who would immediately spot the scam.
That's just.
It's a classic tactic in all sorts of abuse, not just scams.
[00:47:35] Speaker B: It absolutely is, Sue. And it works. It creates this insular world where the scammer is the only trusted voice.
Lottie, by the way, doesn't just shut down fake Keanu's. He also pays the company to shut down fake Cheryls, referring to his publicist and other people in his inner circle who might.
[00:47:56] Speaker C: So they're protecting his entire team, too. That just shows you the extent of the problem, that these scammers aren't just targeting the big names, but also those associated with them. It's like a whole ecosystem of fakes.
[00:48:12] Speaker B: You know, sue, all this talk about the sheer volume of fake accounts, the constant whack, a mole game, and how these scammers operate.
It brings us to a truly disturbing revelation from the article.
Something that completely shifted my perspective on these individuals running the scams.
[00:48:31] Speaker C: Oh, what is it? I mean, I can't imagine anything making them seem less like the purely evil masterminds we often picture.
[00:48:38] Speaker B: You know, sue, here's the real crazy part of this whole story. The scammer the reporter was communicating with as Linda was likely a non native English speaker using AI voice technology to impersonate Reeves.
But here's the kicker. This scammer is probably a victim himself.
[00:48:57] Speaker C: Wait, hold on. A victim? You mean the person running the scam is also a victim? That's. That's surprising. How can that be?
[00:49:05] Speaker B: It's horrific. Actually, they are likely based in Southeast Asia. The article explains that many of these individuals found themselves messaging fake gray haired ladies in California who love Keanu Reeves after responding to a seemingly legitimate job listing in a country like Thailand.
[00:49:26] Speaker C: Oh no. Really? So they're looking for work and they get caught in this?
[00:49:31] Speaker B: Exactly.
When they went to the job interview, human traffickers would have kidnapped them, confiscated their passport, brought them across the border into Myanmar, Cambodia or Laos, and imprisoned them in a compound there. They worked 16 hour days reading from scripts written by experts in human psychology.
[00:49:54] Speaker C: Oh, wow. I didn't know that. That's, that's absolutely crazy. So this isn't just some guy in his basement. It's an organized, brutal operation using forced labor. That's just horrifying.
[00:50:07] Speaker B: It is extremely horrifying.
Scam farms in Southeast Asia have become a multi billion dollar criminal industry, exploiting both scam victims worldwide and trafficked workers forced to run the scams.
According to international reports, these operations generate over $3 billion annually, with thousands of people held against their will in compounds across countries like Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.
This is not just an online crime. It's a serious human rights crisis intertwined with global fraud. SU I firmly believe that this human rights crisis is, is just too important to ignore or to gloss over. That is why we'll be dedicating an entire behind the Scams podcast episode to exposing how these scam farms operate.
So please stay tuned. I am actively researching this very important crisis, so if all works out well, it may even be up next.
I think it would be a great fire follow up to this story. Listeners will certainly be appalled at the level of depravity and human rights violations occurring in this part of the world.
[00:51:24] Speaker C: Yeah, that will be a very important podcast episode for us because industrialized scams really paint a picture of how vast and systemic this is.
So these people are essentially enslaved, forced to commit these crimes.
That makes it so much more complex. Our listeners really need to hear about the savage way humans are treated, all in the name of fraud.
[00:51:51] Speaker B: It is very important, Sue. Now, once the reporter learned that many of these scammers are themselves victims of human trafficking and that it's happening on such an industrial scale, she began to look at her fake Keanu Reeves differently.
His Instagram account was deleted thanks to Lottie, but he was still on Telegram and starting to get agitated with her for taking so long to buy her membership card.
[00:52:17] Speaker C: So he was under pressure to deliver. That's really sad for the people on that end. It's like a never Ending cycle of victimhood.
[00:52:24] Speaker B: Precisely over a period of days. As his messages began to peter out, the reporter wondered what was happening to her fake Keanu Reeves on the other side of the world. Had he decided she was a waste of his time? Was he getting in trouble for not meeting a quota? Was he being physically hurt?
[00:52:44] Speaker C: It's a grim thought that's incredibly sobering. It adds a whole new layer of tragedy to these scams. It's not just the victims who are losing their life savings. It's also these people who are forced into perpetrating the fraud.
[00:52:58] Speaker B: And while the first fake Keanu Reeves drifted away, other newer Keanu's were dming the reporter every day.
She wondered if any of these were actually the first fake Keanu Reeves. But with a whole new account, they didn't seem like him. One Keanu even complimented her on her gardening and told her she could call him sensei.
[00:53:23] Speaker C: It just never stops, does it? The sheer volume, the. The constant churn of new impersonators, and knowing that many of them are unwilling participants themselves makes it even more frustrating.
How do you even begin to fight something like this effectively when it's so deeply entrenched and frankly, so horrifyingly structured?
[00:53:46] Speaker B: That's a really critical question, Sue. And it brings us to a major point that the article emphasizes the role of the social media platforms themselves.
Bottom line, social media platforms need to step up their game when it comes to stopping scams happening right on their own platforms.
Having investigated high technology crimes in Silicon Valley as part of a high tech task force, I know firsthand that cooperation from major tech firm firms was absolutely crucial to making real progress.
But the truth is, we didn't always get it. Some companies were more helpful than others.
That same dynamic exists today. And without full cooperation, these platform scams will continue to thrive.
[00:54:38] Speaker C: Great point, Nick. Your law enforcement experience investigating high tech crimes in Silicon Valley sure gives you unique insight on frauds and scams. It certainly doesn't hurt that you're also a certified fraud investigator and a licensed PI in California.
[00:54:55] Speaker B: Well, sue, thanks so much for the shout outs, but you're right, my background and experiences does go a long ways to aiding us here at Stamp out Scams.
This experience and knowledge is why I founded this non profit.
I think it is incumbent on us all to help out each other and give back to society.
Knowledge and experience goes a long way in our scam prevention mission. But if I could deliver a message to all of the social media platforms out there, it would be have the power to shape the Digital world for the better. Don't waste it behind every scam running on your platform? And is a real person losing their savings, their trust, and sometimes their future?
Technology created this new frontier, but with that comes the responsibility to protect it. Step up, be proactive, and make stopping scams as much a priority as growing your user base.
Lives and livelihoods are depending on it.
[00:56:00] Speaker C: That makes so much sense. I mean, if these platforms are where the scam scams are proliferating, they have a responsibility, right? It's not just a celebrity issue. It's a public safety issue.
[00:56:12] Speaker B: You'd think so, but industry sources reveal that artists are increasingly worried because they're facing significant challenges.
Multiple agent and publicist sources mentioned that they've had real difficulty getting Meta, for example, to honor takedown requests for their clients in a timely fashion.
[00:56:33] Speaker C: That's crazy. How can platforms be so slow? What's their reasoning, if any?
[00:56:38] Speaker B: Well, the article notes that recently Meta has apparently leaned more toward freedom of expression and away from content moderation.
However, the company does state that it's continuing to aggressively combat scams and is even testing the use of facial recognition technology to detect and prevent celeb bait on its platforms.
[00:57:02] Speaker C: Hmm, facial recognition sounds promising. But if they're leaning away from moderation, that's a huge conflict of interest.
What about other platforms like X, formerly Twitter.
[00:57:15] Speaker B: Ah. X, industry sources say, is pretty much useless when it comes to takedown requests. But the thinking goes, it matters less because many consumers already expect it to be full of junk on platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Though many people just assume the images of celebrities they're seeing are real. That's where the real danger lies.
[00:57:39] Speaker C: Yeah, that implicit trust is what scammers prey on. You scroll through your feed, see a familiar face, and you just assume it's legitimate.
[00:57:49] Speaker B: Precisely.
And we saw a very public example of this in May with Jamie Lee Curtis. An AI generated video depicting her was circulating, manipulating footage from an MSNBC interview she did about the Los Angeles wildfires to make it appear that she was endorsing a dental product.
[00:58:09] Speaker C: Oh, I remember hearing something about that. What happened?
[00:58:12] Speaker B: She had been trying for weeks through Meta's formal request process to get Instagram to take down the ad. It had been up for at least six weeks, causing significant damage, before she finally resorted to something drastic.
[00:58:27] Speaker C: What did she do?
[00:58:28] Speaker B: She tagged Mark Zuckerberg directly in a public post she wrote, and I'm paraphrasing, I have gone through every proper channel to ask you and your team to take down this totally AI fake. Commercial.
I've been told that if I ask you directly, maybe you will encourage your team to police it and remove it.
[00:58:50] Speaker C: And did it work?
[00:58:51] Speaker B: Within a day, the post was down.
[00:58:53] Speaker C: This just underscores the urgent need for these platforms to step up and implement more robust proactive measures, rather than relying on individual users or even celebrities to play whack a mole with these sophisticated damaging skills scams. The technology exists for prevention. The will arguably does not seem to be consistently applied.
[00:59:19] Speaker B: And speaking of that continued need for vigilance, it brings us back to Margaret, the woman we started with who lost $100,000 to the fake Kevin Costner.
Her story, sadly doesn't end there, and it really drives home the cyclical nature of these scams and the profound impact they have on victims and their families.
[00:59:41] Speaker C: Oh, no. Really? After all that, she's still vulnerable? That's heartbreaking. What happened?
[00:59:48] Speaker B: Around the same time her scam relationship with Costner began to unravel, Margaret heard from someone she had been communicating with months earlier, someone she believed was Jonathan Roumie, the actor known worldwide for portraying Jesus on the crowdfunded series the Chosen.
[01:00:05] Speaker C: Wait, hold on. Another celebrity impersonator. She fell for another one after the Kevin Costner incident. That's. I mean, how is that possible?
[01:00:15] Speaker B: It's exactly as the experts described it earlier, Sue. Once you're identified as susceptible with money, you land on that grim susceptible with money list.
Margaret had initially met this person after commenting on a roomy post on Facebook.
She even tried to send him money at one point. But thankfully, her bank flagged the charge as likely fraud and stopped it.
[01:00:40] Speaker C: Oh, thank goodness for the bank, at least. But she still believed it was him, even after that red flag.
[01:00:46] Speaker B: She absolutely did. A review of an email chain between them mentioned in the article doesn't even seem that intimate. It's mostly Rumi calling Margaret honey, asking how she slept and whether she's bought the Apple gift cards he asked for.
Yet Margaret believes her relationship with Rumi is flourishing.
[01:01:08] Speaker C: Apple gift cards? That's such a classic scammer request. This is just. It's so hard to wrap my head around. And you mentioned her family earlier, her sister Carol. What do they think about this new relationship?
[01:01:22] Speaker B: This is where it gets incredibly sad.
Margaret has told Carol, her sister, that she's not allowed to talk to her about it, claiming Rumi's management team wants it kept secret because he plays Jesus.
[01:01:36] Speaker C: Oh, wow. That's just so cunning. The secrecy, the appeal to his character as Jesus. It really shows how deeply these scammers get into a person's psyche. It's like a cult. Just as many people describe it, it truly is.
[01:01:52] Speaker B: Margaret, who was raised Southern Baptist, has even started studying Catholicism, which is Rumi's actual practice. And she claims he sends her a prayer every day.
[01:02:02] Speaker C: That's absolutely chilling. So she's changing her life, her beliefs, based on this scam. How is her sister Carol dealing with?
[01:02:10] Speaker B: Carol, bless her heart, has consistently urged Margaret to accept that the people she's communicating with are not who they claim to be. But this has predictably caused a severe rift. The sisters have been growing apart.
[01:02:26] Speaker C: That's heartbreaking to hear. So not only is Margaret losing money, but she's losing her family connections too?
[01:02:33] Speaker B: Precisely. Other family members either live far away or are choosing to avoid the conflict. They just don't bring up the weird online celebrity boyfriend thing.
Carol describes it beautifully and painfully in the article.
She says, she was always my big sister that I looked up to.
I feel like she's gotten isolated now, and I'm sure that's the purpose of it. I don't call her like I used to.
Inside, I'm so disappointed. I'm mad at her, and I feel sorry for her.
[01:03:05] Speaker C: My heart just aches for Carol and for Margaret. The isolation, the way these scammers deliberately alienate their victims from their support systems, it's a tactic right out of the abuser's handbook. It completely overwhelms any type of reasonable thought. It truly is devastating.
[01:03:25] Speaker B: And the story continues to be deeply concerning. This summer, Margaret's divorce will be final.
And here's the kicker. In the divorce agreement, she plans to turn over her house and several acres of land that belonged to her grandmother to her ex husband in exchange for cash. She says she needs the money. It's an incredibly grim detail that perfectly illustrates the unending cycle of vulnerability and how deeply entrenched these beliefs become, even when a victim has already lost so much.
[01:04:01] Speaker C: That's just.
I'm speechless. To sacrifice her home, her grandmother's land, after losing a hundred thousand dollars, all for a fantasy. It's a tragedy. It makes me wonder how many other Margarets are out there quietly losing everything because of these sophisticated, destructive scams.
[01:04:21] Speaker B: Sue, the moral of this story is simple. It's not really about Keanu Reeves. It's about the countless people being manipulated and scammed by criminals using his name and image. These impersonation scams are just one face of a much bigger fraud epidemic happening online every single day.
Having spent years investigating financial crimes, I can tell you trust should Always be earned, not given freely to a profile picture or a famous name.
Stay alert, stay skeptical. And remember, if it feels too good to be true, it usually is. If you found this episode helpful, I encourage you to forward it to someone you care about. It might be exactly what they need to hear to avoid getting scammed.
Sometimes hearing the truth laid out like this is what finally motivates someone to cut ties with a scammer for good. Well, folks, that's all for today's episode of behind the Scams. Thanks for listening.
[01:05:23] Speaker C: Bye for now, and remember, stay safe, stay informed, stay alert, and we'll catch you next time. Miles, please close out this episode for us. Bye for now.
[01:05:35] Speaker A: This is Miles again wrapping things up for today's behind the Scams.
We covered a lot in this episode, starting with Margaret's heartbreaking story, a woman who lost over $100,000 in Bitcoin to someone she believed was Kevin Costner.
We dug into how these celebrity impersonation scams work, from doctored images to AI generated voice messages, and how scammers build emotional dependency while draining victims financially and isolating them from loved ones.
We also talked about the bigger picture, the industrialized scam farms in Southeast Asia, where trafficked workers are forced to run these cons around the clock.
And we highlighted how even celebrities like Keanu Reeves are actively trying to fight back by hiring companies to track down fake accounts. With legislation like the no Fakes act aiming to provide real protections at the end of the day, these scams are about more than just lost money money. They're about stolen trust, fractured families, and an ongoing battle to protect vulnerable people from ruthless criminal networks. So, like Nick mentioned earlier, if you found this episode helpful, please forward it to anyone you think may need it. Whether it's a friend, a parent, or someone in your community, it might be exactly what they need to hear to avoid falling into the same trap or to finally cut ties with a scammer.
Thanks for listening, stay safe, stay informed, and we'll catch you next time on behind the Scams.
