WEEKLY FRAUD UPDATE FROM WEST MERCIA POLICE - ECONOMIC CRIME UNIT - 17/02/2026

CELEBRITY SCAMS

In the same way as Romance Fraudsters use strong and reliable persona such as Military or Medical personnel to convince victims that they are genuine, the use of celebrity persona to defraud potential victims is also common. 

The criminals may use high profile names of celebrities such as Aled Jones, Tom Jones, Elon Musk, Martin Lewis and various other well-known personalities. They may even have “harvested” and used the name of one of your favourite stars off your social media profile if that is public. 

Fraudsters may contact you on social media or dating sites claiming to be that star or celebrity of screen, stage or the Pop music scene. They then ask to start a relationship, followed shortly later by requests for money to their own “Charity” or in one case a tempting offer of a holiday away with them – usually at your cost!

In reality, are such celebrities going to contact someone out of the blue who they do not know?

In other cases, fake websites have been set up with fake product and financial product endorsements claiming to be from well-known figures.

How to avoid and report celebrity ad frauds

When you see an advert online featuring a celebrity endorsement, there are a few questions you should ask yourself:

Finally, do you think that this celebrity is likely to be endorsing that product, or wishing to start a relationship with someone they have never met?

ASK SILVER

This is a service anyone can use to check any suspect emails, URL’s, phone numbers or texts.

Just take a screenshot or photo of the suspect message, open Ask Silver - Free Scam Checkers then copy and paste the image in the window. This will review the message and provide a report on the validity of the message.

Please feel free to share these messages with any vulnerable friends, relatives or neighbours

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If you have fallen for a fraud, 

Report it to Report Fraud (formerly known as ACTION FRAUD) on 0300 123 2040 or via reportfraud.police.uk

Scam Text messages can be forwarded to 7726 to help phone providers take early action and block numbers that generate spam on their networks. 

You can also report Scam mobile calls by texting 7726 with the word “Call” followed by the fraudulent caller’s phone number.

Forward Fake Emails received to report@phishing.gov.uk

If you think your bank account or personal banking details have been used fraudulently, then use the short phone number - 159 - to contact the Fraud Prevention Department of most major UK banks.