Romance Scammer Poses as Keanu Reeves Using AI
The Perfect Scam
AARP
4.5 • 980 Ratings
🗓️ 25 July 2025
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Diane is still mourning the death of her boyfriend when a game of Words With Friends leads to a connection. The man claims to be actor Keanu Reeves. While initially skeptical, the video chat and voice messages he sends eventually convince her of his identity. As the relationship deepens over three years, “Keanu” will borrow thousands of dollars from Diane for an ongoing legal battle with a former manager. He also asks for her help receiving funds for his charity, which unwittingly makes her a money mule. When a police detective comes knocking at her door, she realizes the man is an impostor who stole over $160,000 from her.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This week on The Perfect Scam. |
| 0:04.0 | I made contact with our victim here. |
| 0:07.0 | She believed she was sending funds for a foundation, the Sun City Foundation, |
| 0:13.0 | that Keanu Reeves, allegedly Keanu Reeves said that he was a part of. |
| 0:18.0 | And then Diane's name came up. |
| 0:21.7 | He said, well, what about this LLC? And I said, oh my God. I started hyperventilating. |
| 0:30.6 | I said, I know what this is about. |
| 0:42.3 | Welcome back to the perfect scam. I'm your host, Bob Sullivan. This sure sounds like Keanu Reeves. |
| 0:47.3 | Good morning, my sunshine, Diane. As you said last night, I am sending this recording to let you know that I cherish you and... |
| 0:55.0 | And so does this... |
| 0:57.0 | I'm constantly thinking about you. |
| 0:59.0 | I know it's messy dealing with the hurricane and living with your mom. |
| 1:03.0 | These are just a couple of the voice messages that Diane Ringstaff received during the past few years, |
| 1:09.0 | as she was romanced by a person she met playing |
| 1:11.5 | words with friends. Is that really the voice of the famous actor? We'll get to that in a moment. |
| 1:17.5 | But first, let's chat for a bit with Diane, who lives outside Tampa, Florida, and was in a very |
| 1:23.8 | tough spot on the day she first got a private message from that new, clever player |
| 1:28.3 | on words with friends. You were home by yourself in a home that you had purchased with your |
| 1:35.1 | boyfriend, right? Correct. Can we talk about your boyfriend for a little bit? How long had you |
| 1:39.3 | guys been together? Oh, six years. And then he got sick, right? Yeah, he got sick and then a lot of other medical issues came up with him and just, it just like boiled into worse and worse and worse. |
| 1:59.0 | And then he ended up |
| 2:01.5 | dying in the hospice. |
... |
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