A California woman sent $30,000 to a Facebook scammer she believed was Tom Selleck, then she and her husband were found dead at home

An 80-year-old man and his 79-year-old wife were found dead in their Bermuda Dunes, California, home on May 15, in what authorities are calling an apparent murder-suicide. The deaths followed months of an online scam in which the wife sent thousands of dollars to someone she believed was actor Tom Selleck. The story came to light through True Crime News, which reports that authorities discovered Donald and Karen Whitaker deceased after conducting a welfare check at their residence.

In the months before their deaths, Karen Whitaker had been communicating with an unknown individual on her Facebook profile who convinced her he was Selleck. The scam began with a small request for money so she could be placed at the top of a list for an event the actor was supposedly hosting, then escalated into repeated demands for larger sums. Family friend Joy Miedecke said she and Karen’s children tried repeatedly to intervene, but Karen remained convinced she was in contact with the real actor.

Donald Whitaker and the couple’s children eventually destroyed Karen’s credit card and cut her off from their shared financial accounts in an attempt to stop the losses. By that point, she had already sent at least $30,000 to the scammer. Adult protective services became involved and visited the couple at their home multiple times. Even after someone with a direct connection to Selleck’s team spoke with Karen and explained the actor does not operate this way, she could not be persuaded. Miedecke told reporters, “It didn’t matter. She couldn’t stop believing it.”

The scam followed a well-documented pattern used against thousands of victims

Authorities have stated they do not believe the scammer was directly involved in the couple’s deaths, and a homicide unit is leading the ongoing investigation. The specific causes of death have not been released.

Celebrity impersonation scams of this kind are a recognized and growing form of fraud, in which individuals create fake social media accounts posing as well-known public figures and reach out to followers with requests for money, personal information, or other benefits. Scammers use manipulated photographs, fabricated messages, and increasingly realistic AI-generated media to make their cons convincing, a trend that led OpenAI to shut down its Sora video app after concerns about deepfake abuse became impossible to contain.

Tactics include fake endorsement opportunities, false charity appeals, romance schemes, investment platforms, and promises of prizes, all presented as being connected to a known celebrity. Some organized operations use what are known as “Persona Kits,” collections of digital tools including AI-generated photos, fabricated voice recordings, and constructed backstories that allow a single scammer to maintain multiple impersonator profiles simultaneously.

The FBI has warned that AI tools are now capable of removing the spelling errors and unnatural phrasing that once made scam messages easier to identify. In 2023 alone, over 64,000 people in the United States lost more than $1 billion to romance scams, a category that includes many cases involving fake celebrity contacts. The dangers of AI-driven manipulation extend beyond financial fraud, as courts and lawmakers have increasingly confronted cases where AI content influenced violent outcomes, with serious legal consequences for platform developers.

High-profile cases have involved fake versions of Elon Musk, Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, and others. A woman in France lost approximately 830,000 euros (roughly $850,000 USD) to scammers posing as Brad Pitt who used AI-generated images and fake WhatsApp accounts to maintain a fabricated romantic relationship. A Florida woman named Dianne Ringstaff lost over $160,000 to a scammer impersonating Keanu Reeves, who first contacted her through the mobile game Words With Friends and later video-chatted with her appearing to resemble the actor.

Major social media platforms prohibit impersonation and have policies requiring the removal of fake celebrity accounts when reported, though enforcement remains inconsistent at scale. In 2025, Brazilian authorities arrested four suspects connected to a scheme using deepfake videos of celebrities, with investigators identifying over 20 million reais in suspicious funds. The investigation was ongoing at the time of the Whitakers’ deaths, and no charges have been filed against the scammer in connection with the couple.