A San Diego senior is now dwelling in her automotive after being swindled out of her financial savings by a scammer pretending to be Keanu Reeves.
Katherine Goodson, 67, has gone public along with her harrowing story in a bid to boost consciousness in regards to the rise in celeb romance scams impacting the aged.
“I don’t blame anybody however myself,” the widow, who misplaced her husband in 2007, informed NBC affiliate KNSD.
Goodson moved to San Diego in 2022, the identical 12 months she obtained a textual content message from an individual purporting to be the Hollywood hunk, famed for flicks corresponding to “Level Break” and “The Matrix.”
The Reeves impersonator subsequently requested Goodson to ship him a $500 present card to show she wasn’t simply interested by him for his cash.
“I did ship it, however stated, ‘I need to hear your voice,’ and as soon as I heard his voice, I stated, ‘You’re not him,’ and I blocked him,” Goodson informed the community.
Later, nonetheless, she obtained a message from one other individual claiming they had been the actual Reeves.
The purported “John Wick” star informed Goodson he felt “terrible” that she had been the sufferer of a rip-off, and the pair promptly started exchanging messages.
The widower stated she rapidly started falling in love by way of textual content.
“He needed to marry me,” she cooed. “I used to be lonely.”
For the subsequent two years, Goodson corresponded with the person by way of textual content, however he at all times had an excuse as to why he couldn’t meet in individual.
Regardless of this, the senior despatched cash, present playing cards and Bitcoin, totaling greater than $60,000 in worth.
She additionally corresponded with strangers by way of different telephone numbers who claimed to be “members of Reeves’ administration group.”
In August, nonetheless, Goodson ran out of cash and the messages from “Reeves and his group” turned hostile.
She subsequently realized she had been swindled.
“It was only a mess,” Goodson recalled. “It was mind-boggling to the purpose that I didn’t know my head from something.”
Now, the senior is at all-time low, dwelling in her automotive and attempting to get again on her ft.
Goodson says she has nothing left to lose by going public along with her story and needs to warn others in regards to the risks of the scams.
“There may be nothing that hasn’t already been accomplished to make me really feel any worse,” she sadly said.
Nonetheless, Goodson is way from alone.
KNSD experiences {that a} staggering $1.1 billion was misplaced to romance scams throughout the U.S. in 2023.
The Put up has contacted Reeves’ precise reps for remark.
The “Pace’ star doesn’t have social media. He has been in a relationship with artist Alexandra Grant since 2017.
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