- Remember, your Hollywood crush probably doesn’t need you to send them Amazon gift cards.
We all have that one movie star we’d start dating in a heartbeat if they ever asked. So, what would your favorite heartthrob actually messaged you saying you’re their one and only?
Well, you should probably block all messages from that person because it’s a scam.
This type of scam, known as “love bombing,” showers the victim with (remote) affection to gain access to their money. Katherine Goodson knows that painfully well.
The 67-year-old from California thought she was in touch with Keanu Reeves, of The Matrix and John Wick fame. Yet, on the other end, it was just a scammer pretending to be the movie star.
It’s not like Goodson didn’t have her doubts, though. She initially blocked one scammer pretending to be Reeves — but then she fell for it when the “real” Keanu sent her a personal apology.
Fast-forward two years, and Goodson is now short her life savings and home. She lives out of her car, and “Keanu” has disappeared into thin air.
Yet, while the real blame lies with the scammers, Goodson confesses that she’s the one who was taken in by the lie. “I don’t blame anyone but myself,” she admitted.
Fool Me Once…
Goodson’s relationship with “Mr. Reeves” started in 2022. Or, well, that’s when she ran afoul of the first scammer assuming the Hollywood star’s identity.
She received messages from somebody claiming to be Reeves, and perhaps she initially believed it really was him. In a break from his generally charitable endeavors, however, this person asked Goodson to send him a $500 gift card to show that she wasn’t just after his fame and fortune.
That’s when alarm bells started going off in her head. In the end, though, she did send the gift card — but with a caveat.
“I did send it, but said, ‘I want to hear your voice,’” Goodson told NBC San Diego.
Keanu sent back a voice clip. It was immediately blatantly obvious to Goodson that she’d been had.
“Once I heard his voice, I said, ‘You’re not him,’ and I blocked him,” she said.
That’s a lot of money to throw away, but Goodson took it as a tuition fee. She had learned her lesson.
For now.
‘The Lowest I’ve Ever Been’
After her experience, Goodson made a post about it on social media, hoping it would serve as a warning to others. Then, something quite unexpected happened.
Goodson got a new message from Keanu. This time, though, it was the real deal — Reeves said he felt terrible she’d lost money in his name.
‘Why would a scammer get in touch again using the same trick?’ Goodson thought. So, she responded and the two started messaging each other.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t maybe listening to the warning signs,” said Goodson.
Eventually, Goodson believed they had fallen in love. “He wanted to marry me,” she admitted.
Over the following couple of years, Goodson sent Keanu tens of thousands of dollars in Bitcoin, gift cards, and other hard-to-track transfers. He always seemed to have a good reason why he needed money.
After every transaction, Goodson said she’d really like to meet Keanu. Unfortunately, his busy Hollywood schedule never seemed to leave him free for a date.
Then came August 2024. Goodson finally ran out of money, and suddenly Keanu’s messages started getting hostile.
At this point, Goodson finally accepted she’d been fooled again. But why did she fall for the same scam a second time?
She doesn’t beat around the bush. “Well, number one: I was lonely,” she admitted frankly.
Today, Goodson lives out of her car with whatever possessions she has left. Yet, she said she’d get through it all, somehow.
“I’ve got 29 miles of gas left in my car, and that’s the lowest I’ve ever been,” Goodson said.
We suppose the only way is up when you’ve hit rock bottom.
Not Brad Pitt Too?
It’d be easy to ridicule Goodson for being gullible, but she’s not the only person to fall for love bombing scams. According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, they defraud people out of more than $1 billion every year.
One person who got fooled by a similar scam is Anne, a 54-year-old French woman. She believed she was talking to Brad Pitt, who had fallen on hard times and needed money for his cancer treatments.
By the end of it, she was out of more than $860,000. But why are we bringing up this case in particular?
Well, it might be connected to Goodson. The French woman has hired the scammer buster Marwan Ouarab, who has discovered something interesting.
Using a rigged online link to scam the scammers, Ouarab identified them as a group of conmen operating out of Nigeria. This group scammed 34 people pretending to be Brad Pitt, but according to Ouarab, they’ve now switched to using Keanu Reeves’ name.
Additionally, other research into the Great Keanu Scam has shown that it’s based out of West Africa — which is where Nigeria is located. There’s no hard evidence that Goodson and Anne got scammed by the same people, but it’s certainly possible.
So, remember this — if your most beloved movie star messages you, it’s too good to be true. It’s just a modern-day Nigerian Prince scam.