American actress and film producer, Sandra Bullock has raised an alarm ‘deep concern’ for her family’s safety after hackers pretended to be her sister to scam people thousands of dollars.
In a statement to People. The Oscar winner, 60, expressed her worries for her family and other innocent people being targeted by social media scams, stating that anyone claiming to be her is an impersonator.
‘My family’s safety, as well as the innocent people being taken advantage of, is my deep concern, and there will be a time when I will comment more, but for now, our focus is helping law enforcement handle this matter,’ she shared.
‘Please be aware that I do not participate in any form of social media. Any accounts pretending to be me or anyone associated with me are fake accounts and have been created for financial gain or to exploit people around me,’ she added.
The actress and mother of two made the statement after her younger sister Gesine Bullock-Prado, 54, recently revealed that many people were pretending to be her on Facebook.
Gesine took to Instagram on Sunday to share screen grabs of a number of fake accounts, and writing that some people have been scammed out of thousands of dollars.
‘I spend multiple times a day reporting fakes, dealing with weird & scary emails to my BUSINESS and HOME from men who believe that, through one of these many fake ‘me’s, they have a relationship with my sister through private messages and off app sites and have been giving (sometimes) THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS to an incredibly famous and successful grown a**ed woman,‘ she wrote in a lengthy caption.
She went on: ‘When I report, i also report to a security service that gives the account addresses directly to a Meta employee.’
Gesine claimed that the accounts ‘are run by crime rings’, adding, ‘They also run fake groups where a fake me posts “official statements.” Not me. This is my only account and y’all know it’s about baking, cooking, animals, and gardening.’
Gesine further expressed her frustration, writing, ‘These crime rings and scams are well known by the company and the world but the fact that I’m put in danger, as is my livelihood, doesn’t mean a damn thing.’
Like Sandra, she also shared that the law enforcement have been involved in dealing with the situation.
‘If you see a fake account, are friended or messaged by one, report and block. The only reason I stay on FB is to monitor this for my own knowledge so I am aware of the danger coming at me ( and yes, because of these scams, I’ve had to involve local law enforcement and they’ve been outstanding).’
‘Strangely, Insta handles these things and even informs me when someone creates an account that may be an imposter. But FB? Same company with same tech? Can’t be bothered.’
