I’m sure we’ve all seen it on social media: an account claiming to be a celebrity, asking a fan for help. These are generally low skill, throwaway attempts at fraud, but the internet is whom to hugely sophisticated scammers who deep fake and sweet talk their way into stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Now Gizmodo has submitted a FOI request to the US Federal Trade Commission about scammers, and have discovered that one of the celebrities most used by scammers, i.e. the one people most expect to be scrounging for cash on the web, is Johnny Depp.

197 Depp scams were reported in the last year, with a victim in their 60s sending their entire $350,000 fortune, and another in their 80s sending $200,000.

Depp once had to issue a statement: “I’ve been made aware that there are fake accounts pretending to be me or people working with me… I do not have any private or side accounts on any platforms … I ask that you remain cautious as it seems these fake accounts can be relentless. My team is working to combat the problem. Thank you for your continued support and for making me aware of this issue!”

So a reminder, if it is needed, that famous people do not want to talk to you, they’re scammers, never send them any money.