A 65-year-old Colorado woman appears to be the latest victim of a widespread romance scam known as the “Keanu Reeves Scam.”
To date, the apparent Keanu Reeves impostor has bilked her out of about $5,000, but she remains convinced she is romantically involved with the superstar actor.
“He’s always very romantic, flirtatious,” said the woman about the person she believes is Keanu Reeves who has been messaging and speaking to her since 2022.
“We had great conversations,” said the woman, who is married and has two children. “We talked about everything from what we had for breakfast to sex in the shower,” she said.
Although there are numerous indicators she is communicating with an impostor, the woman is undeterred.
“He also admitted he is Keanu Reeves and now I know that,” she said.
According to the FBI, last year, 19,000 Americans were taken for $1.3 billion by romance scams that preyed on people looking for love online. Colorado residents reported 13,941 impostor scams to the Federal Trade Commission in 2023.
The woman interviewed by CBS News Colorado said she was first contacted in 2022 while on Facebook by someone who said they were Keanu Reeves.
“Suddenly I’m having a conversation with him. I was shocked, really shocked. Keanu Reeves on my Facebook page, why?”
She said at first she thought it was fake, but over time became convinced when the person on the other end of the conversation sent her a driver’s license and other identification appearing to belong to Keanu Reeves. CBS News Colorado found the exact same Keanu Reeves driver’s license floating around the internet.
“It was up to date. It was convincing,” according to the woman.
She said the person asked her to buy Apple gift cards for him, which she did. In months of internet conversations and text messages, he promised her trips to Paris on his private jet, lavish shopping trips and marriage. She believes all of it.
“This is the real Keanu Reeves,” she insisted.
She gave the person access to her bank accounts and tax information and says she has turned over about $5,000 to him.
“I can tell you what movies he’s working on. We talked about all kinds of stuff,” she recounted.
Natalie Reda, a retired U.S. postal inspector, told CBS News, “They use victims until the end. They (victims) check their reasoning at the door.”
Arun Rao with the U.S. Justice Department said scammers in West Africa communicate with victims in the U.S. using artificial intelligence technology.
“It appeared to victims in the U.S. they were speaking to another U.S. citizen,” Rao said.
Rao said romance scams are likely undercounted as most victims end up being embarrassed by what they fell for.
The Keanu Reeves Scam has been going around for years and has been the subject of numerous media reports. Representatives for the actor have said repeatedly that Reeves is not on Facebook and has no social media accounts.
“He was on my Facebook,” insisted the Colorado woman.
She said the only way she would believe she had been scammed was if “Keanu Reeves should walk in the door and tell me he didn’t do this.”
