Evanston Woman Loses $62K to Kevin Costner Impersonation Scam

An Evanston woman was scammed out of approximately $62,000 after believing she was communicating with actor Kevin Costner on the messaging app Telegram. The scammer promised to multiply her investment by converting the gift cards she sent into cryptocurrency, but the woman never received any cryptocurrency in return. Authorities and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have long warned about celebrity impersonation scams, which often involve scammers posing as trusted public figures to convince victims to send money or gift cards. The FTC advises people to slow down, research the celebrity's name alongside the word "scam," never send money or gift cards to unknown contacts, and to report any fraudulent transactions to their financial institutions and the FTC. Police noted that due to the nature of the crime, arrests are highly unlikely, and victims are encouraged to contact their credit card companies for possible recourse. This scam is part of a larger trend of imposter scams, which were the top fraud complaints to the FTC in 2024 with over $2.5 billion lost nationwide.