While some superstars claim to be "just like us," meeting our favorite celebrities can be the highlight of our day, week, month, or even year.
When you write them fan mail, or post a comment on their social media accounts, it's a thrilling experience to get a response back, but if they reach out to you, chances are your exchange is too good to be true.
One woman learned this lesson the hard way when she believed she had been talking to the one and only Bruce Springsteen.
"I'm like 'Whoa Bruce Springsteen, I'm good how are you?'"
In an interview with CBS Chicago, a woman simply known as Mary (for the sake of anonymity) shared her story of how she was conned out of $11,500 by a scammer running a fake Bruce Springsteen Facebook page.
After Mary had commented on the fake page, a person posing as Springsteen reached out to her, which led to a conversation lasting for almost a full year.
"I have been loving Bruce Springsteen since the "˜80s, ever since I heard him and I thought, "˜oh this guy is so handsome and has a good voice,'" she said. 'I'm like 'Whoa Bruce Springsteen, I'm good how are you?'"
Mary said their messages "turned flirty," and the imposer said he was going to divorce his wife Patti Scialfa of 27 years.
"I was vulnerable at the time, but you know it hurt."
However, the fake "Tougher Than the Rest" singer said Scialfa had their bank accounts tied up, and asked for money, ideally in the form of iTunes gift cards.
"I sent him ITunes up to maybe four, five, six-hundred bucks, little by little every week," Mary explained.
She added that the fake Springsteen then texted her a picture of hoards of gold, claiming it was worth millions of dollars.
But he claimed he needed money to get it all shipped from Dubai.
"My mind was just so, so like maybe brainwashed or something I said okay how much money."
Mary eventually sent the scammer $11,500 through both MoneyGram, Western union and a cashiers check.
"I was vulnerable at the time, but you know it hurt, it hurts and you feel so stupid," Mary said.
"I was texting somebody who said they were Kenny."
Sadly, Mary isn't the only one who's been scammed out of thousands of dollars.
Ardiss Robbins, 78, said after she had liked a Kenny Chesney Facebook page, the impostor reached out to her. They then asked her for thousands of dollars.
"I was texting somebody who said they were Kenny," Robbins said, adding she sent the con artist "$10,000 all together."
"I realized now that Kenny Chesney never needed any of my money."
According to the police, the money ended up in China.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission reported that in 2017, close to 350,000 people were victims of "imposter scams," where about one in five said they gave the scammers money.
The FTC also disclosed a staggering $328 million was "lost to someone pretending to be a loved one in trouble, a government official, tech support, or someone else who's not who they say they are, but who wants your money."
"If somebody asks you to send money through a money transfer or through ITunes gift cards or through prepaid gift card, don't do it," warned Todd Kossow of the FTC.
[H/T: CBS Chicago, Global News]
Have you ever been scammed? Let us know your story in the comments!