Johnny Depp has been forced to intervene and warn his fans about an increase in social media scams.
On Monday (6 January), the Pirates of the Caribbean star told his Instagram followers that scammers “are intensifying their efforts to target my fans and supporters”.
His new statement follows a similar one made in 2022, when the actor had a larger online presence.
In his most recent post, Depp, who was recently named to a list of the celebrities most commonly used in scams, wrote: “As part of their tactics, they create multiple, deceptive social media and email accounts impersonating me and members of my team.”
The 61-year-old also addressed the risks of AI, saying: “Today, AI can create the illusion of my face and voice. Scammers may look and sound exactly like the real me.”
However, he reassured his fans that “neither I nor my team will ask you for money or personal information.”
“We are actively working to combat these illicit schemes,” he said, before laying down some truths for the “protection and awareness of my fans”.
The actor revealed that he has official Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook accounts, but is not active on X/Twitter, Snapchat, or Discord.
He additionally disclosed that he doesn’t “interact directly with fans on any social media platform” nor “via email, or via chat-based platforms like Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal or Zangi” .
Depp also made it known that he “does not offer paid meetings, phone calls, club memberships, or fan cards” , completing: “If you are ever asked for any money for a meeting, call, membership, or fan card, it is a scam.”
He concluded with the following statement: “Again, neither myself, my team, my agent, nor my family will ever contact you on my behalf asking for money or your personal information.”
In July 2024, money-saving expert Martin Lewis examined data from Action Fraud to determine how frequently public figures such as Depp, Elon Musk, and Adele were mentioned in scams reported in 2022 and 2023.
Lewis went on to say that the amount of data analyzed by his website is most likely a drop in the ocean, given how many people do not report scams to the police.
If a person believes they have been scammed, they should contact their bank and the police.
