If the hackers don’t get you, a fake Johnny Depp might.
Remember when the internet arrived and the philosopher kings extolled the virtues of an interconnected world? At no point did the soothsayers say: “And, soon, someone claiming to be Glen Powell will scam you out of your life savings with a romantic proposal involving a yacht cruise along the French Riviera.”
Before the internet, it took hard work to morph into a celebrity doppelganger. You couldn’t just dab pomade into your hair, slap on a ’stache and pretend to be Clark Gable while knocking on a random woman’s door: “Good evening. I seek your hand in marriage and 500 bucks.”
Gizmodo published a startling story on Wednesday. After filing a Freedom of Information Act request, the outlet discovered the U.S. Federal Trade Commission received nearly 200 complaints this year from targets of Depp impostor shakedowns.
It seems Johnny is the new Nigerian prince.
“And while it’s not clear how the scammers in every case convinced the victims they were Johnny Depp, these people thought it was the real deal. Depp was likely chosen as a front for the scammers because he’s 61 and had his heyday in the 1990s. The vast majority of the victims are also in their 60s.”
Reading the complaints is to feel deep sympathy for the victims. One woman lost $350,000. There is also a sense of disbelief: How did you fall for this?
Would the real Johnny Depp ping you on Facebook and ask for $100,000 to pay a tax bill? Would the real Johnny Depp email a photo from a hospital bed after an alleged violent mugging and, by the by, can you send Apple gift cards?
Social media has become a target-rich environment for scammers. They no longer pepper spray the masses with tall tales about how a relative lost their wallet on vacation and can you please send $1,500. It’s now far more insidious.
The scammers search for victims who are lonely.
And they’re not just imitating Depp. This fall, police in Spain arrested five fraudsters who swindled two women out of $362,000 by pretending to be Brad Pitt. As the cops noted in a statement: “In order to find their victims, the cyber criminals studied their social networks and put together a psychological profile of them, discovering as a result that both women were vulnerable people suffering from depression and a lack of affection.”
These monsters also play the long game. Some fake Johnny Depps will spend more than two years nurturing an online relationship with victims before the first wire transfer request. They ask about their lives. They feign compassion. They remember names and birthdays. They share touching anecdotes that never happened.
The crooks believe the easiest path to a bank account is through the heart.
A hat tip to Gizmodo for publishing some of the complaints as a public service to help others avoid getting duped. One complaint: “My mother has been talking to someone who claims to be Johnny Depp for over a year … He first claimed to help her invest in bitcoin through cashapp (sic). It also developed into fake love interest and claimed he would sweep her away to Italy to live her dream. She gave these people everything.”
It’s so sad. One downside of this interconnected world is that bad actors can now find anyone, anywhere. And just wait until AI and deep fakes are added to their bag of dirty tricks. All we can really do is raise awareness or have a game plan.
When I get a call from someone who is clearly up to no good, I used to hang up. Now my blood boils thinking about how this person spends all day in con mode.
So I instantly beg him for money with ridiculous stories:
My leg was ripped off during a lion safari and I need to buy a prosthetic limb! My cat needs an artificial eye! My car was stolen by escaped lab monkeys! I am starting a cult and need a down payment for the compound!
Click. It always works and always makes me laugh.
Those calls are easy when you can hear the background chatter inside a malevolent black hole that is an overseas boiler room. It gets trickier if you believe the person is a star. What if “Salma Hayek” texted me every day for two years and eventually suggested I rob a CIBC so we can start a new life together in Mexico? Hopefully, I’d call the cops. But who knows, maybe I’d buy a pistol and ski mask. People, it’s Salma Hayek.
Please warn your loved ones about the rise of celebrity scams.
The real Johnny Depp speaks gibberish and does not want your inheritance.
