One of the oldest tropes when it comes to online scamming is the old “Nigerian prince” scam, which saw con artists bilking unsuspecting people by tugging on two emotions: pity and greed.
The premise was simple. African royalty needed your help via some sob story, and you were guaranteed untold riches in return.
(Some politicians have actually lived a version of this scam out in real life, to disastrous consequences.)
With this scam basically becoming a meme at this point, it appears hackers and con men have decided to tug on a new emotion in their latest criminal enterprise: celebrity adulation.
Cyber-security company McAfee put out its annual “Celebrity Hacker Hotlist” on Monday, and the list read like a who’s who of pop culture in 2024.
The most used celebrity in these hacker scams? Actress Scarlett Johansson, which almost feels deliberate given just how much the actress has spoken out against generative artificial intelligence.
McAfee reported that Johansson had her image and likeness used in unauthorized advertisements and endorsements.
Right behind Johansson is pop culture influencer and reality television star Kylie Jenner, which is hardly a surprise given how ubiquitous the Jenner/Kardashian branding is.
Behind Jenner is none other than the pop czarina Taylor Swift — who is perhaps third because of how polarizing she has been lately.
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McAfee reported that Swift’s image “has been used without permission for celebrity endorsement, ticket scams, and product giveaway scams, as well as for disinformation (political endorsement).”
(Swift herself squelched any question about who she was endorsing in the forthcoming presidential election with a social media post supporting Vice President Kamala Harris — the topper of the Democratic presidential ticket.)
Behind Swift are a pair of wildly divergent actors.
In fourth place is relative Hollywood newcomer Anya Taylor-Joy, and right behind her is grizzled Hollywood veteran Tom Hanks.
A faux Hanks “has been used without permission to promote ‘miracle cures and wonder drugs,’” according to McAfee.
Horrifically, pop star Sabrina Carpenter — who slotted in right behind Hanks — had her image used “to advertise an app for creating sexually explicit images.”
After Carpenter is actress Sydney Sweeney, who has primarily been linked to cryptocurrency scams.
The rest of the top 10 are then rounded out by actors Blake Lively and Johnny Depp (8th and 9th, respectively) and singer Addison Rae.
To help avoid being scammed by one of these fake celebrities, McAfee offered a number of suggestions, including scrutinizing social media more and validating sources.
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