Elderly Woman Loses Life Savings to Johnny Depp Scam

A devastated grandchild recently took to social media to warn others to avoid the scam that destroyed their family’s finances. The Reddit user’s grandmother reportedly fell for a scammer who claimed to be famed Pirates of the Caribbean actor Johnny Depp.

Depp has seen his fair share of controversies in recent years–although he won a defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard in 2022, a 2020 U.K. court case found a newspaper could accurately call him a “wife beater.” He’s faced allegations of “out of control” behavior on set and settled a lawsuit from a crewmember who claimed Depp punched him in the ribs.

But of all the things Johnny Depp has been accused of, scamming unsuspecting grandmothers isn’t one of them. Redditor u/tonkaterd recently shared their family’s experience with the scammer, seeking advice and warning others not to fall for the same thing.

“My grandmother thinks she is marrying Johnny Depp and has put our entire family at risk,” the social media user began.

The family became aware of the scam when the social media user’s mother noticed $3,000 missing from her grandmother’s retirement account.

“My grandma then revealed to my mom that she had met Johnny Depp in a chat room and they were engaged to get married, but he needed her to send $3000 to the UN so he could get out of some movie contract and come ‘take care of her,'” the user explained. “She somehow managed to go to the bank, cash a check for $3000, then send it via Bitcoin to this guy.”

The family assumed the “very sharp otherwise” grandmother had an “underlying medical problem.” They had her evaluated at a hospital, but doctors found nothing wrong. They explained to her that she was being scammed.

“We thought she understood after all of that that she had been scammed,” the Redditor said. “She said she understood anyways and we thought that was that. My mom has [power of attorney] and informed all banking agencies/filed a police report/etc.”

Unfortunately, their nightmare was far from over. The user’s mother noticed their grandmother was “acting sketchy,” especially when she randomly said she “needed to” sell her house. The mother logged into the grandmother’s messaging app to investigate.

“Come to find out, my grandma has now sent him her card information, told him her address and how much her house is worth, how much is in her account, my parents names, numbers and address, all of her grandkids names and numbers, and even more,” the user explained.

“My mom has tried over and over again to convince her this is a scammer and she’s putting all of us at risk, but there is literally no reasoning with her.”

The family was able to lock the grandmother’s account, but the fake Johnny Depp is still pressuring her to send more money and personal information.

“At this point she’s not only putting herself at risk for bankruptcy but she’s sharing information with god knows who about our entire family,” the Redditor concluded. My mom is at a complete loss on what to do and I’m not much better.”

Some users shared their advice for ending the scam.

“Get a lawyer and get conservatorship over her, before she loses everything,” said u/Smooth_Security4607.

Many suggested the family revoke the grandmother’s internet access.

“When an elderly person hurts themself with a car, or a hot stove, or a food processor, we take that away from them so they don’t hurt themselves again,” u/recent_mastadon explained. “…Internet access is the same thing. Grandma has lost the ability to tell scammers apart and will never listen to you, so help her stop hurting herself. The scammers will never stop targeting her.”

One user said this isn’t the first time they’ve heard of scammers pretending to be Johnny Depp.

“I work in LA sometimes and stay at my manager’s house, next door to Mr. Depp,” u/thiefsthemetaken wrote. “Almost every single night, someone pulls up to the gates, takes out their phone, waits, then leaves later, sometimes crying. It’s really bleak.”

“One woman parked in my driveway once, convinced it was his house. I talked to her for a while, she’d driven to LA from Nevada that day, and said Johnny told her he’d be here waiting,” they continued.

“I told her he’s out of town, someone must be tricking her, don’t send money, and if she needs she can sleep in her minivan in the driveway til she’s good to drive. She still didn’t believe me, and waited there with her phone out for at least 5 hours.”

Never send money or give personal information to anyone you don’t know online. Confide in a trusted friend or family member if you’re concerned about any internet communications you receive.

What are your best tips for avoiding scams online? Disney Fanatic would love to hear them in the comments!