Fake Kevin Costner Tricks Illinois Woman Out of $62K

It's understandable when some people get starstruck when they meet someone they think is famous. "Think" is the key word as there are many imposters pretending to be someone they're not. Sadly, one Illinois woman was taken by a man who claimed he was Kevin Costner and it cost her big time.

I saw this terrible scheme just shared by Whiskey Riff. They pointed to a report by NBC Chicago saying that an Evanston, Illinois woman was contacted by a Kevin Costner wanna-be through the social media app Telegram. One function of that app is end-to-end messenger encryption which is what will make prosecution of this villain difficult.

She was told by the imposter that he could make investments for her, but instead of sending cash, he apparently requested that she send him gift cards. Over the span of six months, she reportedly send fake Kevin Costner around $62,000.

What can you do to avoid fake celebrity scams?

As the Federal Trade Commission warns, sending gift card information to anyone you don't really know is always a bad idea. The culprits will tell you it's urgent and ask you to load money onto those cards then they'll ask you for the gift card number and the PIN on the back. That results in your money being gone even if you still have possession of the cards. The reports say that the Evanston, Illinois police advised the victimized woman to try and get assistance through her credit card company. Outside of that possible recourse, there's very little that law enforcement can do if you fall for one of these fake scams. No individual or company that is reputable will ever ask you to pay by gift card in this way.