Tammy Elliott
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – We want to alert you to celebrity-related scams. One wrong click could cost you.
You have your favorite celebrities. So do hackers. From the “Barbie” movie to TV’s “Yellowstone” to Oprah Winfrey’s weight loss, you should know that scammers love celebrities.
McAfee Labs, the cybersecurity company, has Ryan Gosling topping its 2023 Hacker Celebrity Hot List. No surprise since he brought the “Kenergy” to the summer blockbuster movie “Barbie.”
Right next to him is Emily Blunt, who starred in that other successful summer film, “Oppenheimer.”
Other top names rounding out the top 5 celebrities used in scams are singer Jennifer Lopez, actor and singer Zendaya, and hit series “Yellowstone” star Kevin Costner.
Scammers use celebrity names and their image to get you to click on fake links, potentially downloading malware to your device.
The president of the Wisconsin Better Business Bureau tells Consumer First Alert scammers are also using celebrities to endorse fake products.
“Using AI [artificial intelligence] scammers say these celebrities endorse them, but they don’t, and celebrities are being scammed as well because if they claim they’re supporting these fake products you’re going to think they scammed you as well. Celebrities don’t like it, either, and they’ve got lawyers trying to hunt down these scammers,” Jim Temmer said.
Temmer says the Better Business Bureau has reports of people losing money to these scams, including “buy one get one free” Oprah supplements. The person was charged $200 and never received the product. And of course Oprah had nothing to do with the product.
“Bottom line is, you shouldn’t be relying on celebrities to make your purchasing decisions for you no matter what it is,” Temmer said. “Look at the product yourself. Look at the website, because most of this stuff is online, and if you’re driven there by a social media post odds are very good it could be a scam.”
The advice: Check out the company or product at BBB.org.
Also, Temmer says Google a company or celebrity name with the word “scam” and see what results come up.
Don’t download anything from a website you don’t trust — especially video. Only click to download videos from well-known, legitimate sites.
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