Famous (ish) person messaging me

[Cat2014]

I have been chatting to someone who is kind of famous not like seriously film actor famous but social influencer. For a worth while cause , loads of followers and been in the news a lot fairly recently etc.
They have added me to a personal chat and we have been messaging and I think getting closer. I however keep thinking is this actually them? Could it be a member of their ‘staff’ just messing about? How can I trust that their messages are real?

I really like this person and I’m worried in case I’m being duped or something. Has anyone got any advice?

Scams can be very convincing, especially with modern technology. I know someone who works in a bank and they have to ask customers questions when they want to withdraw or transfer large amounts of money. One customer wanted to transfer money to a Hollywood actor who they had been in communication with and had offered the customer the opportunity to meet them, have a tour behind the scenes etc, in exchange for payment. There was even a video message from the actor, addressing the customer by name. But it was all fake, even the video message which was a deep fake.

OP there is a very high chance this is a scam. It’s pretty common - if you go to Reddit and do a search for celebrity scam you’ll find hundreds of similar stories.

Yes I’m now convinced it’s a scam. How do I check

Sorry OP, it sounds like a scam.
TBH I don't think you even need to 'check'.
Accept that you gained something from the interaction, regardless of who it was with, but move on and cut contact.
Good luck.

Lots of ways to check!

Firstly has the person ever asked for money or implied times are tough etc? If so, 100% scam for sure.

What platform did you first connect with them on? Facebook? Insta? Check the profile is verified (blue tick) and that you're actually talking to the verified account. Sometimes people clone pages to make them look identical to the official one. Search and see if there's another fan page/fan account for that person and then message that page.

You could also message your 'friend' and say you'd like a specific bit of proof that it's really them. Maybe a picture of them holding their passport or ID. That could be faked but it's probably a bit harder to do.

Mostly just trust your gut. The fact you're here says that you think something is 'off' and that's a good voice to listen to.

Finally, you sound as though you have very little confidence in yourself or your looks - I can promise you that you're worth far more than you think you are. You deserve a nice, decent friendship/relationship and don't have to put up with being a victim of someone else's games.

Let us know how you get on!

Is it their verified account? Blue tick?

It may be staff - as it may be part of their engagement strategy to respond to people’s messages & promote familiarity, but a bit weird if they’re taking it more personal.

I would be leaning toward a scam and being very wary.

Either way I very much doubt it’s the person himself, sorry! You should definitely take a step back and not be so invested.

This is exactly what I think is going on. This is why they are a successful influencer - they have the ability to make people feel special.

Is it someone who works with dogs? If so I think it could be real but also a bit odd so I think I’d back off .

Could you copy the text of one of their messages so we can see how ‘scammy’ it is?

Although if it’s who I think it is I can understand the attraction! But it’s still weird, so step away …

The fact that they took you to their personal profile rang alarm bells for me. How sure can you be that this is their account still?

Hard to judge without you saying who it is

The only person I can think of is Mr Beast.

What platform did you reach out to them on.

Idk, as long as they're not asking you for anything then I'd just enjoy the digital connection. I have people who I met and exclusively communicate with online, never anyone famous though. I don't worry about whether they're genuine people or not, I just enjoy chatting to them. If they're ever in my area we meet up (this has only happened rarely!).

I messaged on Instagram a comedian. She responded and we exchanged a few texts (I was asking for help). I was surprised as didn't think it would be her who actually replied but it sounded like she talks (if that makes sense)

We only messaged about 5/6 times, then we've stopped. I did think about sending another message saying I had passed my exam (this is what I was questioning her about) but thought it may make me look like a stalker!

Famous people are normal people!

What platform? Basic question but are they verified with a tick if insta?

This reminds me of a podcast I listened to - 'Sweet Bobby', where some one was completely taken in to the point of arranging a marriage, except they had never met in person, and the hoaxer always had an excuse for not meeting up. It was an incredibly elaborate hoax.

I would start by doing a Google search for 'name of person direct messages' or 'name of person scam' to see if anyone else has had a similar interactions that turn out to be a scam.

Exactly what I was going to write. Read about several people who were duped by scammers pretending to be A listers.
Proceed with caution OP.

If you suspect that this isn't real and if it were real you won't even share a picture of yourself, but you are picturing a relationship, then I'm sorry OP but you are scamming yourself.

A lot of people are mentioning verification and blue ticks... you can buy these on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter; for less than £10 a month, officially from the platforms. Please don't trust that as a measure for how legitimate someone is. It doesn't work that way anymore.

Strictly speaking Facebook and Instagram check IDs and shouldn't allow someone to remain verified while pretending to be someone else but as always, there are people who can get passed that...

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Is this person some kind of activist? What sort of thing are they involved wirh?

Post screenshots here but scribble out identifying information

A close friend of mine had this. The celebrity wrote a book, which my friend really enjoyed, so she messaged him to say how much she’d loved it. He replied. They started messaging regularly and over the next few months my friend convinced herself that she was deeply in love with him and they were in a relationship. He was on a different continent so that was a good excuse for not meeting. Then after several months he abruptly ghosted her.

She’s as sure as she can be that he was the real version of him. He still treated her terribly though. Then after not hearing from him for months and months she started being messaged by a fake version of him.