“Swindled Out of £200 by a Phony Kevin Costner”

A woman has reported losing a significant amount of money after falling victim to fraudsters impersonating a famous Hollywood star and his management team.

Eileen Leeks, 63, from Felixstowe, Suffolk, shared that she has been a devoted fan of Kevin Costner, the star of Yellowstone, for the past two years.

A few months ago, she began following a Facebook page she believed belonged to the 69-year-old Oscar-winning actor. Soon after, she was inundated with messages claiming she needed to purchase a £100 voucher to become an official fan. The messages insisted that buying the voucher would grant her the opportunity to meet Costner in person. “I was pressured, and eventually gave in because they said I wouldn’t meet him unless I got the Apple cards. So I bought two, each costing £100,” she recounted.

However, shortly after her purchase, she received a message stating she had been scammed and that to truly meet Costner, she would need to buy a VIP membership card for over £1,000. “I thought, you must be joking—he’s a millionaire,” she said.

Things took a strange turn when Ms. Leeks received a video call from someone she initially believed to be Costner himself. “His face was moving, which made me think it was really him. He was sitting in a chair in his office, and he looked genuine,” she recalled. “He said, ‘This is Kevin Costner, and you have been scammed.’”

After this revelation, she was contacted by the so-called ‘management team,’ who clarified that it wasn’t Costner and that scammers were using his likeness and voice to deceive fans.

Following her report of the scam, Ms. Leeks received a message through a private platform from the scammers again, this time offering her a job and an apartment in America. “I thought, what on earth is going on?” she said.

She expressed concern for other fans who might be lured by such offers, warning, “If fans believe they’re getting a job and an apartment in America, they could end up losing a lot.”

Now unemployed and having lost a considerable sum, she said, “I’m really unhappy about this situation.”