Illinois Resident Scammed Out Of $62K By A Phony Kevin Costner

It's okay if you're feeling a little judgmental about someone being taken for a chunk of money by someone pretending to be Kevin Costner. I get it. You're probably thinking that sort of thing would never happen to you, because you're just not dumb or greedy enough to fall for a scam like that.

That may be true in your case, but unfortunately for many people, they just didn't realize that a scammer was setting the hook on them by pretending to be someone famous.

This scam falls under the umbrella of Imposter Scams, which does include celebrity impersonation scams, but also government, business, and family impersonation scams as well. Imposter scams were the number-one fraud complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2024, with total losses in excess of $2.5 billion.

Lots of people all over the world have fallen for celebrity impersonation scams. Here's how it happened to one Illinois resident.

Celebrity Impersonation Scams Can Work Several Ways, But The Scam Perpetrated On An Evanston, Illinois Resident Started With Financial Advice From A "Celebrity"

If you're going to go to someone for financial advice, I would think picking someone who's worth hundreds of millions of dollars would be a great choice...unless they're just pretending to a multi-millionaire movie and TV star, which is what happened here in Illinois.

In this case, the victim didn't pick the phony celebrity, the phony celebrity picked the victim and offered financial advice about cryptocurrency, according to Patch.com:

A scammer claiming to be Kevin Costner offering investment help swindled approximately $62,000 from an Evanston resident recently, police announced Tuesday.

The fake Kevin Costner "Field of Schemes," as Evanston Police called it, took place on the messaging platform telegram and lasted for about six months according to the victim. Despite the faux Costner's promises, the woman never received the cryptocurrency she was promised.

Scammers running these types of scams look for vulnerable victims, usually older, who tend to believe that the fake celebrity is actually on the up-and-up. They then milk as much money and personal information out of the victim that they possibly can before disappearing.

Scammers Are Not Just Pretending To Be Kevin Costner, They Can Make Themselves Seem To Be Nearly Any Famous Person

Some other celebrities who've been impersonated by scammers include (but are not limited to):

Brad Pitt: A 53-year-old woman in France saw AI-generated photos of Pitt and ended up spending $850,000, thinking those funds were going to help a cancer-ridden Pitt and even divorcing her husband in the process. (hat tip to ThePennyHoarder.com)

Johnny Depp: “Today, AI can create the illusion of my face and voice,” Depp wrote in an Instagram post on Jan. 6. “Scammers may look and sound just like the real me. But neither I nor my team will ask you for money or your personal information.”

Reba McEntire: In November, country singer Reba McEntire posted on Instagram with a similar message. “I and my team will never correspond with you from a direct message or cell phone number asking you for money in order to meet me,” she wrote. She urged fans not to give out personal information, purchase gift cards or send money electronically to strangers.