In the middle of a scam currently

Last week was quite the emotional rollercoaster ride. I’ll try to keep it short.

Recently, my production company partnered with an organization to rebuild homes for the 2023 Maui victims. That is not the scam. My company is real. The guy I’m working with is real.

My assistant and I put together a long list of emails for philanthropic celebrities, companies, etc and one of the celebrities wrote back within a few hours.

My first red flag was them wanting to switch over to WhatsApp. There was a video sent of the individual saying my name, honoring the cause, and wanting to help. After back & forth of getting me to prove my legitimacy to them, they said some really kind words about my philanthropic efforts & lifestyle, which made me feel really good and think I was finally about to catch a big break. Then they had me sign up for “Lead Wise Federal Credit Union” to transfer funds to me personally rather than use our GoFundeMe page.

I let my excitement get the better of me and yes, I put in sensitive personal information to that website. When they struggled to activate my account, I got nervous of the scam. I canceled my credit card, called the identity theft hotlines, and informed my banks. Out of nowhere, the next day, the money appeared, but had no trace back to the individual’s name. I did not try to transfer the money because I figured once they got my real bank account info, that’s where the scam would take effect. The bank told me it was fraud and I should disengage.

Right now, I’m still in talks with this individual though they seem to have given up on me over the weekend. I found emails to the real celebrity’s PR, agents, manager, and attorneys. I’m thinking about emailing them all tomorrow to inform them of what happened.

This week went from an incredible high to an incredible low, and now I feel like dogshit. It’s not a very fun rollercoaster ride at this point.

Thanks for listening. This sucks though.