A 'Jennifer Aniston' Scam is Going Viral. Don't Fall For It

If you receive a message from someone claiming to be "Friends" actress Jennifer Aniston, you may want to be careful. 

Paul Davis, a 43-year-old man from Southampton, has fallen victim to a deepfake scam. He received an image of what appeared to be Aniston's driver's license. The person posing as Aniston also asked Davis for cash for "Apple subscriptions" before telling him they loved him. 

One of the messages that Davis received from the Jennifer Aniston imposter read, "Please be careful and stop liking any of my pictures on any fake account it's going to put you in trouble and don't comment too ok hon? Now you have found me you have to block and delete all the fake account you're chatting with I don't want anything to hurt you please."  

Davis thought he was talking to the real Aniston, which is why he went ahead and sent the money.

"I’ve had fake videos from Jennifer Aniston saying she loves me and asking for £200. I believed it – and I paid," he said. "I got bitten. Once bitten, twice shy." 

This wasn't the only AI-powered scam that Davis has been involved in. He has received messages about him winning cash prizes as well as AI-generated videos of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. 

"It's been going on for about five months. I thought people would get into trouble for this, but these people seem to be having a laugh and getting away with it." 

Davis isn't the only person on the wrong end of these scams. The Southampton native added that he knows someone who spent "over a grand on Apple gift cards" for scammers.