Dame Helen Mirren has shared a scam with her followers, revealing that her name has been used to dupe people out of money.
‘SCAM ALERT!’ she began in a post on social media, warning fans not to part with their hard-earned cash.
‘Person(s) unknown have used my name to front a false charity, which is sending out messages from me, offering a large sum of money and asking you to respond to helenmirrencharity@gmail.com.
‘THIS IS NOT ME and it is not my email address, please beware and do not respond, this is a scam,’ she emphasised.
‘The original message came from drogogo91@gmail.com and referred to a genuine charity Look For The Stars to claim authenticity. Please keep alert – Many thanks, Helen.’
In a bizarre twist, as the legendary actress warns her fans, she herself has been a victim of scams previously.
In 2019, the actress told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, host Jane Garvey that she was conned out of money as she believed she was sending money in return for a mystery prize.
The star was on the show to promote her film The Good Liar, which saw her play a rich widow targeted by a conman, played by Ian McKellen. During the conversation, Helen challenged the idea that some people are too savvy to be conned.
‘I was scammed. I was so embarrassed about it, and that’s the terrible thing, isn’t it, when you’re scammed, you’re so mortified that you really don’t tell anyone because it’s so embarrassing and humiliating,’ she said
The MobLand actor revealed that she received a call while she was in the US, telling her she’d won a prize.
‘They did it brilliantly, and I was suspicious. They said, “I’ve got her I’ve got her”, when I picked up the phone, they said, “I’ve got her, I’ve got her, we’re so excited to tell you you’ve won this prize!”
‘I said, “Have I, how?” The only caveat – why didn’t I realise? – was, in order to get the prize, I had to send them money.
‘And in return they would send – and they did, it wasn’t like I didn’t get anything – they sent these things, weird things like a 3D camera, I remember and a fake diamond tennis bracelet, just weird things’
She revealed that the jig was up after she later offered to come and meet them.
‘But I was suspicious, and I said, “Where are you phoning from, the company, where is it based?”
‘”We’re based in New Orleans.” I said, “Oh what address?” And they gave me an address, and I said, “Oh that’s interesting, because – and it was true – I happen to be coming to New Orleans next week, so I’ll pop in and see you.”
‘And they sort of went all a bit pear-shaped when I said that.’
The legendary star added: ‘I was scammed, definitely.’
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