Think Blake Shelton or Dolly Parton Is Really Messaging You? Think Again

Criminals are using AI to impersonate celebrities — from Brad Pitt to Elon Musk — and steal fans' savings

Christina Ianzito,

Updated September 10, 2025

AARP

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En español

Published August 23, 2021

/ Updated September 10, 2025

a hand holding a cell phone with a scammer holding up a mask of dolly parton

Illustration: Patrick Leger

In this story

How scams work • The AI effect • Protect yourself • If you're targeted

Country superstar Blake Shelton is so ruggedly handsome that People magazine once proclaimed him the “Sexiest Man Alive.” When J.R., a woman in her 60s in Alabama, heard she could enter a $1 million contest to be chosen the Grammy-winning singer’s fan of the year a few years ago, she decided to enter. To do so, she was told she needed to make three payments totaling $17,500 through wire transfers, which she did. But it was all a scam.

Shelton’s manager was not communicating with J.R. There was no $1 million contest. Shelton, who’s known across musical genres after more than 20 seasons as a coach on NBC’s The Voice, is among a cavalcade of performers who have publicly condemned the criminals who highjack their names for profit.

Victims’ losses can be significant. Impostor scams, which include criminals posing as celebrities, but more commonly as government agencies, banks or a friend or family member, were among the top fraud complaints to the Federal Trade Commission in 2024, with reported losses of nearly $2.95 billion (second only to investment scams).

How celebrity impostor scams work

Criminals who pose as celebrities follow a playbook, says Anthony Pratkanis, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California in Santa Cruz. They nurture a relationship with their target before the “ask.”

The scammer profiles the target in private massages to determine the best approach. If a victim is lonely, it’s a romance scam; if altruistic, it’s a charity scam.

The criminals invent excuses about why they (wealthy celebrities) supposedly can’t access their funds, Pratkanis says.

Recent calls to the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline (877-908-3360) reporting celebrity impostor scams included a woman who began communicating online with someone claiming to be Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin. She sent more than $23,000 to the scammer, who'd said the money would allow her to meet Plant.

The Helpline has also heard reports of scammers pretending to be Elon Musk, Michael Bolton, Dolly Parton, Steve Perry, and Chris Young, among many others.

AI's influence

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) make these scams harder to identify. AI offers criminals the tools they need to mimic voices, alter photos and avoid the spelling and grammar mistakes that once were red flags for fraud.

“It’s opening a new era of potential threats,” said Eyal Benishti, founder and CEO of Ironscales, a company that helps organizations protect against social engineering and email phishing scams, in a 2023 interview with AARP about AI and fraud.

Here are just a few ways scammers use AI in celebrity impostor scams.

Mimic voices. To create a voice that sounds like a celebrity, scammers only need three seconds of audio. Just as in a grandparent scam, where you think you are getting a call for help from your grandchild, AI can simulate celebrity voices so effectively that a woman in Texas thought she was receiving voice messages from a famous musician. She sent him thousands of dollars to arrange a private meet and greet.

Post bogus ads. Criminals pretend to be celebrities who are endorsing products. In the past few years Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift and Jennifer Aniston have been among the famous people who’ve been impersonated hawking CBD, keto gummies, weight loss cures or Apple MacBook “giveaways for just $10” as the ad promised.

Create deepfake celebrity videos. AI has allowed criminals to create deepfake videos using celebrities’ images for these fake endorsements. Earlier this year, a woman in Los Angeles reportedly sent her life savings to a scammer posing as General Hospital star Steve Burton. She’d received deepfake videos that appeared to be from Burton professing his love for her, and believed that the money was for them to buy a home together. (Listen to this episode of AARP’s podcast The Perfect Scam, about a woman who developed a three-year relationship with someone pretending to be the actor Keanu Reeves.)

Upload phony livestreams. The impostor account features a video along with a message promising, for example, a cash prize to the first 500 people who comment with a specified phrase. Respondents get a direct message asking for a bank account number or other personal data to facilitate a supposed payment.

How to protect yourself

1. Know the red flags for scams. A big one: Scammers will ask you to move the conversation from Facebook or Instagram to a private platform like WhatsApp.

2. Think before you post. Because any comments on a celebrity’s social media account are public, a bad actor can reach out to fans who have posted and pretend to be the actual celebrity.

3. Be skeptical. Remember that a genuine VIP won’t send you a private message to solicit funds. “Enjoy your celebrity crushes — we all have them. Just be careful when any ‘celebrity’ says they need your help," says Amy Nofziger, director of victim support for the AARP Fraud Watch Network.

4. Research charities. If a celebrity asks you to donate, do research first. It should be a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization, says Nofziger. Avoid charity scams by vetting nonprofits on a site such as the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator or CharityWatch. If you give, give directly to the charity through the legitimate site, not a link given to you.

5. Slow down. Before you send money, talk with someone you trust.

6. Never send cash, gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency or other hard-to-trace forms of payment to someone you don’t genuinely know or haven’t met.

7. Keep your personal information private. Never share bank details or other financial information.

What to do if you’ve been targeted

Contact your bank to let them know about the incident and ask if they can stop payment on any money sent to scammers. Report celebrity scams to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Report online celebrity impostors to the relevant social media network. Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram have procedures to eliminate bogus accounts.

For support and guidance, the trained fraud specialists at the free AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline, 877-908-3360, can share information on what to do next and how to avoid future scams. The AARP Fraud Watch Network also offers online group support sessions.

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