How fake ‘Reese Witherspoon’ tried to cheat us out of thousands: She sent this convincing video and showed ID. But now we expose this devious new crime wave

If your favourite celebrity started to chat with you on social media, you might be sceptical that it was really them. But what if they had an official-looking account and sent you videos and photographs of themselves reassuring you they were genuine?

Growing numbers of victims are being caught out by these so-called ‘deepfake’ scams, in which scammers use new computer software to create authentic-looking but completely bogus profiles of famous people to ensnare their fans.

Keen to understand how fraudsters do this, Mark Lewis and Nick Stapleton, hosts of BBC One TV series Scam Interceptors, went undercover to expose their tricks. ‘The crime has doubled in the past year and is one of the fastest growing and manipulative scams,’ says Stapleton.

Today they show Money Mail readers how scammers do it – and how you can beat them.

Be wary of fake social media ticks

Fraudsters often lurk in celebrity fan groups on social media platforms such as Facebook. These pages are typically set up by genuine fans, but can be exploited by fraudsters who cast their net to ensnare victims.

To experience it for himself, Mark Lewis set up a profile on Facebook. He then joined a celebrity fan group for Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon, which he found by tapping her name in the search box on Facebook.

Lewis says: ‘I was then bombarded with messages from people claiming to be the actual celebrity in a chat forum. Four people claimed to be the legitimate Reese Witherspoon.

‘I decided to chat with one of them to see what happens. I chose an individual going by the name of “Reece Witherspoon private account”.

The profile of this person contained a blue tick, which indicates that a user has signed up to a premium subscription. Such a £9.99-a-month service is often used by brands and celebrities to show that the site is legitimate, though is still no guarantee that you are dealing with the genuine star. The blue tick should appear alongside the user’s profile picture.

In this case, the tick was within the profile picture – but if you are unaware of the correct positioning you could mistake it for being an authorised account.

Stapleton, who is also author of the book How to Beat Scammers, says: ‘Facebook is a favourite place for scammers as it is mostly used by those aged in their fifties and above who might not be as technically savvy as younger social media users. They may have heard that the blue tick is important – but not fully understand it. This is dangerous if they mistake this for being genuine.’

Beware fake pictures and videos

Lewis sent a message to the Facebook user purporting to be Reese Witherspoon and received a flirty message back.

‘Hello sweetheart,’ it said, with an emoji kiss image.

It may seem unlikely that a celebrity would interact with a stranger on social media, but Stapleton says a fan may wish a fantasy to be real, so will convince themselves it is genuine. Scammers exploit this weakness.

The scammers then sent a video that appeared to be of Reese Witherspoon to allay any doubts that the fan may be having.

In it, she says: ‘Hello. I’m real. So if you do not believe me I do not know what to tell you. This is me. Have a good day’.

However, new software allows criminals to create such deepfake videos or images. In this case, the real Reese Witherspoon has probably never uttered those words, but the scammers can create videos to make it appear as if that is what she is doing. It requires no expertise and the software is available for free online.

Stapleton says: ‘This deepfake technology is alarmingly good. Look closely and you may be able to see flaws in some of the basic clips and videos, such as the lip movements not quite linking up with words being said or facial expressions looking slightly disconnected to the way a head moves. But you can easily fall for their tricks.’

The crooks do not have to be technically adept. They scan images of the person they want to deepfake and then enter the words they want them to say. The software can then digitally manipulate the images to make it appear as if they are speaking them.

Lewis also received an image of Witherspoon that appeared to show her holding a picture of her driving licence to the camera. This had a real image of the star taken from a screenshot on her social media platform Instagram, but a fake hand holding a driving licence had been added by the fraudster.

Stay alert to a privacy request

By this point, the scammer may have their victim ensnared – now they have to keep them in their thrall.

After Lewis received the deepfake video and picture, the fake Witherspoon messaged him again:

‘Let’s chat. I will tell you a secret,’ followed by ‘Can i trust you with my personal Zangi number? I will be blocking my fanpage soon and I want us to relate with each other privately, Mark.’

The scammer also addressed him by name – another trick to make the interaction seem personal. Zangi is a messaging service that focuses on privacy.

Lewis explains that scammers will convince their victims to move away from the platform they started on to another one, to help them fly under the radar of web invigilators.

They will often ask their victim to talk privately so they don’t share details with family or friends who might warn them that it sounds like a scam.

Once the chat moved on to the other platform the tone changed – to a language designed to make the victim think they had their own secret way of talking to one another.

The scammer texted: ‘614’. This was followed by: ‘This is our secret code it means whenever I text you 614 that mean Love of my life’. As strange as the message might sound, this can be a successful technique for drawing innocent victims further in.

Brace yourself for a money request

Scammers are masters at knowing when to move in for the kill and ask for your money – but understand that pouncing too soon frightens off victims.

The Witherspoon copycat waited a week before the conversation took the all too predictable turn, texting: ‘Yes that reminds me, do you have my membership form or card?’

They explained that this would enable Lewis to call and meet the Hollywood star. When he asked how to get this card, the scammer messaged him: ‘For the VIP membership card you are to pay $1000’.

They went on to suggest that he pays using Paypal, a gift card or Bitcoin. ‘I will advise you to go for gift card cause it’s more reliable and easier to access,’ they added.

Victims are encouraged to buy gift cards online to the value suggested by the scammer. The cards are digital and activated with a code.

Gift cards are one of the favourite payment methods demanded by criminals because the moment you share the gift card code with them it is all over – and incredibly difficult to retrieve the money.

Don’t be fooled by bogus middlemen

Lewis made several calls to the phone number from which he had received the text messages. No one answered. But then he received a text claiming to be from the manager for Reese Witherspoon, giving the name Rick Yorn.

Lewis searched for the name online and found it was a legitimate Hollywood producer.

This is yet another trick – by giving the name of a real person, victims may believe the correspondence is genuine.

Lewis responded: ‘I’m ready to buy my VIP membership’ and the scammer replied to ask him for two gift cards valued at $500 each.

Two hours later – after receiving no money from Lewis – someone called back claiming to be Reese’s manager. The crook explained that for a further $1,000 it would be possible to buy a Golden VIP gift card that ‘allows you Reese Witherspoon to meet’.

Be ready to walk away

If you’re in any doubt about someone you’re talking to on social media – or if they ask you for money out of the blue – walk away.

Lewis and Stapleton are experts so they decided to challenge the crooks about the scam – but do not encourage others to do the same.

They have seen the same deepfake fraud carried out using the identity of other celebrities, including Jenna Ortega, Donny Osmond, Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis.

When Lewis asked directly why the scammer was trying to steal people’s money, he immediately hung up. When he phoned again, the scammer said: ‘What the **** are you talking about? Why should you call me a scammer?’ then hung up again. 

He then sent another deepfake video of someone saying ‘I want to tell you I am the real Reese Witherspoon I know. There are a lot of imposters claiming to be me. But I want to let you know I am the real Reese Witherspoon.’ This was followed by yet more texts: ‘What?? You called my management a scammer?? I just got a report from him now.’ It shows how crooks can keep up an intimidating charade even when exposed.

Scam Interceptors contacted Facebook about the scam and was told it had ‘removed the contact’ and that it uses automated and manual systems to block accounts that abuse its standards but it is looking for way to improve its ‘detection and enforcement’.

Messaging app Zangi said it was ‘made anti-targeting and anti-scam by design’ and it ‘enforces illegal activity countermeasures’ – suggesting victims can take screenshots as evidence that can be taken to the police.

If you are victim of a scam, immediately tell your bank to see if they can reimburse your money.

Report a crime to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.

• The new series of Scam Interceptors is now showing on BBC One and iPlayer