Reese Witherspoon issues warning over 'manipulative' social media scammers

Reese Witherspoon has warned fans about an online scam in which people attempt to impersonate her.

In a video posted to Instagram on Wednesday, the Oscar-winning actress urged her followers not to interact with anyone who appears to be posing as her on social media.

"I want to just tell you what I've been dealing with for the 24 hours," she began, noting that Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology can be used to create the illusion of her face and voice. "There are multiple people on TikTok and Instagram impersonating me... I want you to know this is not me. And it's so upsetting that people would use my name to manipulate people, but I want you to know that I would never ever manipulate you. I would never reach out to you for money, for private information, to a create a meetup time."

Accordingly, the Legally Blonde star begged her 30 million followers not to share any personal information online.

"Please look at these accounts that are doing this and make sure they're verified," the 49-year-old cautioned. "Please be careful out there and please know I would never, never reach out to you to manipulate you or take anything from you."

Representatives for TikTok and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, have not yet responded to Reese's concerns.

In recent months, Hollywood stars including Johnny Depp and Sandra Bullock have also issued warnings to fans about avoiding interaction with online impersonators.