Reese Witherspoon warns fans over Instagram and TikTok scam accounts

Reese Witherspoon says scammers are using her name to build fake relationships. Photo / Getty Images

Reese Witherspoon has warned fans to be vigilant about scammers impersonating her on social media.

The Hollywood actress, 49, has revealed she’s endured a tough 24 hours after uncovering a number of catfishing scams on Instagram and TikTok – in which fraudsters have been using her name and image to “build relationships” online – and she’s told all of her followers to be extra careful about interacting with accounts that claim to be run by her.

In a post on TikTok, Reese explained: “Hey, this is important. I want to just tell you what I’ve been dealing with for the past 24 hours.

@reesewitherspoon

I would never manipulate you. Please check for verification. ❤️

♬ original sound - Reese Witherspoon

“There are multiple people on TikTok and Instagram impersonating me, and they go into people’s DMs, and they try to build a relationship, they try to extract personal information, plan meet-up times.

“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 create a meet-up time.”

Reese went on to insist she will never try to “manipulate” her fans or “take anything from you” and urged everyone to be careful about who they trust on social media platforms.

She added: “So please look at these accounts that are doing this, and make sure they’re verified.

“If somebody’s talking to you, this is not just me. This is happening across the board, but it’s really upsetting to me that this is happening on such a large scale.

“So please be careful out there, and please know, I would never, never reach out to you to manipulate you or take anything from you, okay.”

Reese is the latest celebrity to warn fans about the issue of online scammers.

In 2025, Dame Helen Mirren issued a warning over scammers who were using her name to bring in donations for a “fake charity”.

In a post on Instagram, Mirren explained: “SCAM ALERT! 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.

“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.”