Scammers often impersonate famous people. We’ve heard about scams using photos of Keanu Reeves, Kevin Costner, Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock, and more. It’s pretty terrible, and many celebrities have gone out of their way to warn people not to fall victim to these fraudsters.
Sheryl Crow has scammers impersonating her too. It’s gotten so bad that the moderators of Sheryl’s official Facebook fan page posted a long, pointed message urging the men who have been receiving these messages to use “common sense.”
Sheryl Crow, or more accurately the moderators of her Facebook account, have shared an important message with “grown men” who follow the singer on the platform.
“Recently, we’ve gotten a greatly increased number of comments and posts on this page from grown men who believe they have been direct messaging with Sheryl and have some kind of personal access or relationship with her,” they wrote in the message posted on Oct. 13. “Some of these folks even believe they’re going to marry Sheryl despite never actually having met her in their entire lives. Some of these folks have been convinced to give money to people posing as Sheryl’s management team in order to get a ‘fan card’ or pay for a private session with her. And of course, this never happens once the money changes hands – because it’s a SCAM.”
“It’s kind of incredible that we need to keep saying this, but Sheryl DOES NOT message with fans on social media, on Telegram or WhatsApp, or anywhere else. ANYONE who claims to be Sheryl or someone from her management team who messages a fan is an imposter, a scammer, looking to rip people off. There are NO exceptions to this fact – trust us! This is the only official Sheryl Crow page on Facebook, Sheryl does not have any other private personal pages here, and she doesn’t use any direct messaging platforms. We ban these folks as soon as we see them pop up, but the social media networks are doing a terrible job keeping scammers off their services. You have to be personally diligent and cautious online,” the message continued.
“So please, gentlemen: use COMMON SENSE when receiving these scam messages. You honestly think you’re going to marry someone famous whom you’ve never met because you’ve been DM’ing with someone who claims to be them but has a new account with 12 followers and they’re asking you to send them money? C’mon now,” the post continued before concluding with, “Just enjoy the music! That’s what it’s all about. Thanks for reading.”
Some fans seemed to take the warning as nothing more than a joke and added their own humorous take in the comments.
“Wait… so the chick with 4 followers and the blurry pic on TikTok who messaged me in broken English is NOT Sheryl’s private fan account, who is just reaching out to her fave fans to build a better relationship?” one wrote. “Well, now I question my connection with Mariah Carey, Sarah McLachlan, Annie Agar, and Elton John…”
“So, you’re saying there’s still a chance?” another added.
“You honestly think you’re going to marry someone famous whom you’ve never met because you’ve been DM’ing with someone who claims to be them but has a new account with 12 followers and they’re asking you to send them money?” Whew, that statement didn’t pull any punches. While I feel sorry for lonely, vulnerable people out there who fall for these types of schemes, that definitely needed to be said. Sometimes, you just need to bluntly point out the harsh truth. I know it’s difficult for law enforcement to track some of the more sophisticated operations, but I hope that they are able to bust these rings. In the meantime, anyone who has fallen for this scam or another imposter scam like it should make sure they block the scammer, keep the evidence of their communications and financial transactions, and report it to their local police, as well as the FBI, FTC, and their bank.
When we last checked in with Sheryl, she sold her Tesla and donated the proceeds to NPR. Talk about being a bad ass putting s their money where their mouth is. If you’d like to support Sheryl the legal, old-fashion way, she’s doing a residency at the Woolworth Theatre in Nashville. Over the next six months, she’ll be doing a series of acoustic shows to benefit an organization called Love Now, which supports local public school officials so they can help the “overlooked and unseen” members of their communities. That’s so awesome.
Photos credit: Organización/Europa Press/Avalon, Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, Getty
I’m glad they’re being this blunt but sadly don’t think it will make much of a difference, people want to believe they’re special and will get sucked in by the scammers who know what they’re doing.
Sheryl really does seem like a great person and I love the things she’s doing to try and help others.
Hm. I just started 2 Words with Friends games with a Matt McConaughey with his pic and everything. You’d think he’d be busier promoting a new film and his family.