Michigan AG warns of celebrity impersonation scams | #celebrity | #romance | #romancescams

LANSING, Mich. — “While it may be disappointing to hear, you are probably not in a secret, long-distance relationship with Garth Brooks,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

There’s been a recent uptick in scammers impersonating well-known celebrities, according to Nessel.

These scammers are pretending to be anyone from celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Garth Brooks and Kid Rock to military leaders, including former and active 4-star generals.

“Scammers are constantly coming up with elaborate schemes to steal your money and may be posing as celebrities or public officials,” said Nessel. “If someone claiming to be Garth or any other famous figure is asking you personally for money, don’t send it. It’s almost certainly a scam.”

The scammers use a variety of schemes to try to steal money from victims. Nessel shared the three that they’ve seen the most:

• Romance scams: Victims believe they are in an online relationship with well-known individuals who often involve requests for money.

• Cryptocurrency or “pig butchering” scams: Fake cryptocurrency or business investment opportunities endorsed by the celebrity or official.

• Merchandise scams: Consumers are asked to purchase custom or exclusive merchandise from a scammer posing as a well-known individual.

Nessel said that online romance and pig butchering scams take advantage of people looking for romantic partners on dating sites, apps or social media. The scammers will quickly profess their love for their victims, posing as a celebrity or military member working abroad. These lies help them explain why they can’t meet in person.

Nessel’s office has consumer alerts to educate consumers on what romance scams and pig butchering scams are in order to be able to avoid them. You can read about romance scams here, and pig butchering scams here.

They also shared the following tips for avoiding these types of scams:

• Never agree to open a bank account or re-ship goods sent to you.

• Do not send money, prepaid gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency to someone you met online.

• Communicate only through the specific app and avoid giving out personal phone numbers or email addresses.

• Slow down and talk to someone you trust before responding if someone appears on your social media and rushes you to start a friendship or romance.

• Don’t send money, trade, or invest with a person you have only met online.

• Don’t speak of your financial position or investments with strangers online.

• Don’t share personal information or current financial status with strangers.

• Don’t provide your banking information, social security number, copies of your identification or passport, or any other sensitive information to anyone online or to a site that you cannot verify is authentic.

• Be cautious of individuals who claim to have exclusive investment opportunities and urge you to act fast.

Another common scamming method that’s on the rise is use of artificial intelligence (AI). Scammers can use AI to create realistic deepfake audio and video scams of well-known individuals. Scammers can clone a person’s voice using audio data collected from social media posts or videos. They can then call victims and impersonate the well-known individual to make pleas for money.

Nessel’s office shared the following tips for avoiding AI scams:

• Do not trust caller ID: Scammers can spoof phone numbers to make calls appear legitimate.

• Beware of unusual payment requests: Scammers often demand payment through cryptocurrency, gift cards, or money transfers—methods that are hard to trace or reverse.

• Remember, government entities and officials never request payment in gift cards or cryptocurrency.

Lastly, Nessel said you can often look for these common warning signs to alert you that something may be a scam:

• High-pressure tactics to act immediately.

• Use of fear or enticing offers.

• Demands for sensitive information or unusual payment methods.

To file a complaint with the Department of Attorney General, contact:

Consumer Protection Team
P.O. Box 30213
Lansing, MI 48909
517-335-7599
Fax: 517-241-3771
Toll-free: 877-765-8388
Or use their online complaint form.