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?

I followed a few actors when I used instagram - one of them in particular seemed to get a lot of fake accounts pretending to be him and I reported each and every one for it. Everyone needs to report any contact, even just a follow request, from these fake profiles!

Elon is a contrarian. He doesn't have a blue tick next to his name, the blue tick has a Elon Musk next to his name. You definitely talked to the real guy!

OP, I am a blunt person, I ask the person to send me a video to prove it is really them if they keep on messaging me personally (but is it someone selling "courses". Could they be fishing for a client?)

Oh, Honey....

People who have tried to guess sorry it’s not any of those

Don't send any money to anyone, good grief!! It's a scam, move on.

Im not sending money to them!!

OP watch the episode of Catfish where a man is “talking to” Katy Perry.

Dont feel bad about it. You weren’t sucked in. I would report him though.

The former police officer?The former police officer?? THE FORMER POLICE OFFICER???

I am sometimes seriously terrified when I realise how some incredibly people live amongst us...

Now we know it's a scam can you say who it is as I don't know any influencers so can't even guess.

What an un-Mumsnetty thing to say! Everyone knows you should always trust your gut to suss out paedos and people who look at you judgementally because they're just jealous Logic be damned!

@Cat2014

They have asked for a donation
I want to make a very small donation for the thing they’re collecting for but I won’t send it how the person messaging me has asked. I’ll send it via official channels and see if they’re ok with that

Oh FFS.
Seriously.
"see if they're ok with that"?????
Dear God.

You really need to take some time out to educate yourself.

The fact you say Not really as I am not confident in my looks is itself such a warning sign as these sort of people pick off those who they think are vulnerable, underconfident or lonely.

Take this for example:

@Cat2014

Yes a voice note is a good idea. Thanks. Yes I would be able to tell

Of course you would be able to tell!!!

Maybe read some of these:

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/stephen-fry-audiobooks-harry-potter-ai-b2414706.html

https://metro.co.uk/2022/06/15/dont-be-fooled-by-fake-video-calls-how-to-spot-facetime-trickery-16819197/

https://www.makeuseof.com/ways-criminals-use-ai-romance-scams/

https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2022/10/romance-scammer-makes-bank-with-deepfake-mark-ruffalo

Then when you are done with those watch a few episodes of this:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b1px

AND DO NOT SEND ANYONE AT ALL ANY MONEY.

I'd ask around. If they're a pretty famous influencer, they probably have a thread about them on Tattle Life or Guru Gossiper. Do they have history for messaging with "fans"? The people who post on those threads seem to know absolutely everything about that influencer, even if they're only "hate watching". They'll be able to help you suss out if it's genuine or not.

Personally, this whole thread is kinda weird.

Do not send money. Absolutely do not send money.

Well if they’re not ok with me sending to official channels then it’s obviously a scam. That’s what I meant not that I’m asking permission
As for the rest of the post, thanks I’m not absolutely thick no need for dear god

Ah, I'm sorry OP, the fact they've now asked for money shows it's definitely a scam.

It’s a scam, sorry

"Can you send person a gift - maybe a distinctive scarf, card, book etc and see if she thanks you for ut."

The OP has not said it is a woman.
The OP has said she has been asked for money (a "donation").

If they’re famous then it’s highly likely it’s not them.

If they’re not that famous then it’s possible it is them and this is what they do - private chat with ‘fans’ and make them more appealing.

The fact he’s asking you for money is obvious that’s it’s a scam and not him, or he does this with all his fans to get more money.

I have had John travolta and snoop dog message me telling me that they are in love with me and want to marry me.
They even sent photos of themselves to ‘prove’ that it was them.
No celeb would ever speak like this.

I've started to get "likes" on a fan page from a couple of celebs you look at the pages and they have very little followers and just photos on their page. Clearly clones .

I have had John travolta and snoop dog message me telling me that they are in love with me and want to marry me

I've had Hugh Laurie ask me to dinner and Jason Momoa wanting to talk to me! How anyone can fall for these obvious scams is utterly baffling to me.

Glad you took a pragmatic approach and worked it out. It is so worrying that there are so many scams. With AI it’s only going to get worse.

What account are they messaging from? An official blue tick account or an unverified account? Every vaguely famous person has numerous "copycat" accounts/fan accounts and they get millions of followers who all think they're the real deal.

I agree!

There was a video of a celeb doing and saying things which was all AI.

I can imagine if they sent a similar video talking about that person it would very easy to believe.

No 😂😂 you were asked if you were a teen because teenagers are children.

That’s not a criticism -You lack life experience and are more likely to trust an adult at face value.

Be wary of any. online strangers initiating “meaningful” chat and asking you questions about your life.

Online grooming takes many forms. It’s not always sexually motivated, it can be to used to manipulate you into parting with money.

Youve been groomed.

The first indicator of this is your willingness to donate to a specific charity without question.
Yes I know you will contact the charity to do this. However, you’re donating because you feel obligated to - you’ve been conditioned (without realising) to feel guilty if you don’t “help” in some way.

Well if they ask for money, run