Security firm McAfee recently published its yearly rundown of the most commonly hijacked celebrities — those whose identities are most frequently exploited in online cons. Scarlett Johansson ranked first, with other big names such as Kylie Jenner, Taylor Swift and Tom Hanks close behind. Fraudsters posed as these stars to extract money for various schemes, including “phony giveaways, tickets for in-demand concerts or disinformation efforts,” McAfee reported.
McAfee’s examples include Hanks being marketed as a seller of “miracle cures,” Swift being shown endorsing political contenders and Kylie Jenner urging followers to join cryptocurrency giveaways. These schemes can cost fans real money; McAfee says losses span from a few hundred dollars to more than half a million. Johansson even threatened legal action against OpenAI for allegedly mimicking her voice in their system.
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What Does a Celebrity Impersonator Scam Look Like?
In short, it looks like the celebrity.
Joking aside, these scams are becoming a serious issue. Deloitte’s Center for Financial Services warns that by 2027, fraud linked to generative AI could hit $40 billion, a steep rise from the estimated $12.3 billion in 2023.
So how can you protect yourself from a celebrity impersonation con? And what are some notable incidents? We’ve laid out the details.
Johnny Depp
In January, actor Johnny Depp was targeted by an impersonation scheme. He posted a message to fans alerting them that scammers had “ramped up their attempts to go after my fans and supporters.”
“Today, AI can fabricate the appearance of my face and voice,” Depp wrote on Instagram on Jan. 6. “Scammers may look and sound exactly like me. But neither I nor my team will ever request money or your personal information.”
He also linked to his verified pages on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, clarifying he doesn’t use X, Snapchat or Discord.
Reba McEntire
Depp isn’t the only celebrity to warn followers. In November, country star Reba McEntire posted a similar alert on Instagram: “My team and I will never message you from a direct message or phone number asking for money in order to meet me,” she wrote. She urged fans not to share personal details, buy gift cards for strangers, or wire money electronically to unknown parties.
Brad Pitt
Another example involved Brad Pitt. A 53-year-old woman in France encountered AI-generated images of Pitt and ended up spending $850,000, believing she was helping a cancer-stricken Pitt and even divorcing her spouse over it.
After the incident surfaced, Pitt released a statement calling it “awful” that “scammers exploit fans’ emotional attachment to celebrities,” and reminded people not to answer unexpected online outreach, particularly from actors who do not maintain social media accounts.
Elon Musk
Impersonations of Elon Musk have been used to pitch bogus investment schemes in AI videos that duped at least one 62-year-old healthcare worker, CBS News reported.
“Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to change your life and help others in the process,” a fake-Musk declares in one of these clips.
The co-founder of Sensity, a company monitoring deepfakes, told the New York Times that videos of Musk were likely the largest deepfake-driven fraud ever. An 82-year-old retiree described to the Times how he was convinced enough to invest over $690,000 in what turned out to be a scam.
David Attenborough
British naturalist and presenter David Attenborough had his voice cloned in a fabricated pro-Donald Trump broadcast. While this is slightly different from a full visual deepfake — it didn’t use Attenborough’s likeness — the veteran host told The Guardian he was “deeply unsettled.”
How to Spot Fake, AI-generated Content
If you worry about being duped by a celebrity impersonation scam, here are practical tips to help you identify fraudulent content.
1. Use reverse image search
The European Broadcasting Union recommends reverse image search — save the photo and run it through Google Images — to find out whether the clip or photo was taken from another context.
2. Check the webpage
If a celebrity’s video or post directs you to another website, inspect whether that site appears trustworthy, functions properly and has a legitimate URL. Landing on a site that doesn’t really exist is a strong indicator you’ve encountered a scam.
3. Background distortion
This tip comes from Microsoft. Examine the image’s background. If the person’s likeness looks plausible but the backdrop is oddly blurred or inconsistent with the scene, that can suggest the video has been altered or repurposed.
4. Look at different social media sites
As Depp pointed out, he doesn’t hold accounts on certain platforms like X and Discord. If your supposed favorite star suddenly appears on a platform they historically never used, search for their official profiles across platforms. If an account conflicts with verified ones, the unfamiliar one is likely fraudulent.
5. Search celebrity scams
Does something feel off? Would Jennifer Aniston really be hawking a miracle pill? Is Elon Musk’s investment pitch too good to be true? Search online — many celebrity-related scams have already been reported and publicized by the stars themselves.
6. The audio and mouth don’t match
This mismatch is one of the clearest signs of a deepfake. A celebrity might largely look authentic in a video, but if their mouth moves unnaturally or in a robotic way, that’s a strong clue the content was synthetically produced.
7. Under no circumstances should you give out your personal information
This is a sound rule regardless of the situation. As many celebrities have warned in their posts, never share personal data with an unknown source. Whether it’s bank details, credit card numbers, a Social Security Number or any identifying information, if the source seems suspicious or unfamiliar, do not disclose it.
