In a new year's message to his fans, Johnny Depp included a warning about ongoing social media scams that have been exploiting his image and costing people significant amounts of money.
Depp posted on Instagram on Monday, wishing his followers a happy new year and alerting them to "illicit schemes" designed to defraud them.
"Sadly, it has been brought to my attention that online scammers are intensifying their efforts to target my fans and supporters," Depp wrote. "As part of their tactics, they create multiple, deceptive social media and email accounts impersonating me and members of my team."
He explained, "Today, AI can create the illusion of my face and voice. Scammers may look and sound just like the real me. But, neither I, nor my team, will ask you for money or your personal information. We are actively working to combat these illicit schemes."
To protect his fans, Depp emphasized that his official accounts on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are his only ones, and that he doesn't use Snapchat, Discord, or X (formerly Twitter).
He further clarified, "I do not offer paid meetings, phone calls, club memberships, or fan cards. If you are ever asked for any money for a meeting, call, membership, or fan card, it is a scam."
Depp stressed that he never interacts directly with fans on any social media, email, or chat-based apps and reiterated that neither he nor his team or family will ever reach out to get contact info or personal information for money.
A representative for Depp declined to comment further on the matter.
The actor's warning comes a month after Gizmodo reported on the prevalence of Depp impersonation scams over the past year. Through a Freedom of Information Act request to the Federal Trade Commission, the outlet obtained "197 complaints that span the entire country" and noted that "the victims were often targeted first on social media platforms like Facebook before the conversation moved to messaging apps like Telegram, WhatsApp, or Zangi. And the methods of sending money included Coinbase, Bitcoin ATMs, Zelle, PayPal, and gift cards, among others."
According to the report, some fans lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, with one victim reportedly losing a total of $350,000.
Recently, celebrities including Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hanks, and Brad Pitt have similarly spoken out about scams involving their likenesses being used for fraudulent purposes. Depp himself also had to issue a similar warning to fans in June 2022, alerting followers at the time to accounts "pretending to be me."
