Reese Witherspoon warns fans about 'upsetting' online scam
People are still falling victim to celebrity scams in 2026.
Another day, another year, another person sending money to their favourite rich celebrity on social media.
This time, online scammers are targeting diehard fans of actress Reese Witherspoon.
The 'Legally Blonde' star took to her official TikTok page to remind her nine million followers that she will never send them private messages asking for money.
“There are multiple people on TikTok and Instagram impersonating me, and they go into people’s DMs, and they try to build a relationship," she said.
Witherspoon says the impersonators attempt to extract personal information and plan meet-ups.
"I want you to know this is not me. It’s so upsetting that people would use my name to manipulate people. But I want you to know that I would never ever manipulate you. I would never reach out to you for money."
With a reported net worth of $440 million, she certainly does not need the money
The 49-year-old urged her fans to double-check the accounts from which they are receiving messages to ensure they are verified pages.
"This is not just me. This is happening across the board.
@reesewitherspoon I would never manipulate you. Please check for verification. ❤️
♬ original sound - Reese Witherspoon
Last year, a 53-year-old French woman was deceived into believing she was chatting with actor Brad Pitt. The scammers sent her AI-generated pictures of the Hollywood star in the hospital.
The fake Brad Pitt convinced the woman that he desperately needed money for a kidney transplant, claiming he couldn't access his funds due to his ongoing divorce with Angelina Jolie
The victim lost 830,000 euros ($850,000) in the scam. A 43-year-old British man was also scammed after 'Jennifer Aniston' begged him to send £200 for Apple subscriptions.
Back home in South Africa, scammers have also used images of Connie Ferguson to dupe people.
They too used AI to trick people into thinking they were talking to Ferguson on WhatsApp video calls.
If you get a message from Witherspoon or from billionaire Elon Musk on social media, think twice before sending them money to buy a first-class plane ticket on Unicorn Airlines.
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Image credit: Instagram/@reesewitherspoon