Lionel Richie is not in love with you: revealing celebrity scam tactics from the inside

Deepfake image of Lionel Richie holding a paper with a handwritten note. Image: Ampyx News.

BY KERRY TOMLINSON, AMPYX NEWS

It's going to be a big night. A Las Vegas show with Grammy Award-winner Lionel Richie. Then a post-concert meet-and-greet. And finally, a private dinner with the singer himself.

At least, that's what Lionel's promising in our private chat.

"I will cook for you, my queen," he says. "I can’t wait to meet you, baby.”

Our undercover investigation into celebrity imposter scams reveals the tools and tactics the criminals are using to steal billions of dollars.

Here's what the scam looks like from the inside.

Watch here:

Thrilled to Connect

It starts with a message on Instagram from Lionel Richie himself.

"It's awesome to see you out here. I'm using this unofficial account to chat with fans on a more personal level, and I'm thrilled to connect with you." he writes.

"You are THE Lionel Richie?" we ask.

"Hard to believe yeah? Had to reach out myself cuz l've been getting reports of people pretending to be me on social media," he responds.

Of course, he is one of those fakers. This short chat turned into two months of undercover work as a celebrity fraud target.

Getting Personal

Shadow Lionel quickly switches from Instagram to the messaging app Telegram. There, he sends an AI-generated selfie of Lionel Richie, as if to prove it's really him.

We chat for weeks under the name Karen. Lionel pours out his troubles about the life of a star and eventually leans into a personal relationship.

"But for some reason, I feel myself want to talk to you. To open up. It's wild. Like… how do you even have this kind of effect on me?" he asks. "You remind me that I'm still human, not just a name or a face that people recognize. And that means everything to me."

On Your Side

Now this American Idol judge and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer wants to meet in person.

But he can't let his management know he's falling for a fan. So, our best chance, he says, is an official "meet and greet," a personal fan visit.

He instructs us to send a request to his management's email address. Request confirmed, management says. That will be $4,500.

"I can't believe it! So expensive," we complain to Lionel.

"I will have a word with them," he writes back.

Later, "They agreed on a payment charge of $2500. That's the best I could get from them."

See? He's trying to help you, not scam you.

Face-to-Face

The impostor does not hesitate to offer up a live video call. In the past, scammers avoided anything that could reveal their faces.

But criminals need less fraud expertise now with AI, said fraud fighter Miguel Navarro in an interview at the 2025 RSAC cybersecurity conference in San Francisco.

"Before, you had to know what you were doing," Navarro said. "Now, you only really need to have money and guts and know exactly where to buy the tools that you would need."

Faux Lionel's video call is low quality but does bear a resemblance to Lionel Richie's Wikipedia picture.

The audio, however? It's not a deepfake. It's just scam Lionel whispering.

"Why are you whispering?" we ask.

"No, no," he says. "Check your volume."

But it's not the phone. It's a criminal who knows he doesn't sound like Lionel Richie.

Serenade?

Now, our special request.

"Can you sing a little bit for me?" we plead. "Just the 'Hello' part."

He shakes his head no. And it's time to hang up.

Big Business

Even with questionable audio, these scams can work. Celebrity impersonators stole $5.3 billion dollars in 2025, according to a report by security company Spikerz. The most faked stars are singers Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and Billie Eilish, the report said.

The power imbalance in a celebrity-fan relationship makes for a perfect scam. They can always claim privacy, or celebrity pressures, or management problems. What are you going to do, break up with a megastar?

"The sad part about it, too, is that scammers and fraudsters are just so motivated, you know, to do all of these things, "Navarro said.

We're motivated, too. To expose their tactics.

Time to Pay

"I'm at the bank trying to send money to your management's account for the meet and greet," we tell him.

But at our "bank," the teller wants more proof.

"They said I should ask you to send me a picture with you holding up a piece paper with my name on it," we explain. "Can you do that?"

Lionel's frustrated, but comes through, sending an AI-generated deepfake of Lionel Richie holding up a paper with the name 'Karen' and the date in handwriting.

Tick Tock

Now, it's the night before Lionel's Las Vegas concert and the wire payment hasn't shown up in his management's account.

"Theres no time, babes," Lionel pressures. "Can you get gift cards instead? Apple gift cards. Tell them you are sending it to a family member as a gift."

"Made it to the store," we answer later. "They have Apple cards for $10-$500. I'm going to get five."

But there's trouble at this "store."

"The store security guy is asking to talk to me," we report.

"Why does he need to talk to you?" Lionel fires back. "Tell him you're getting it for a family member. It's a gift."

But we go silent.

Our phone lights up. Lionel's under a time crunch to get those gift card numbers.

"Baby. You home?"

"What happened, hun? I am worried about you."

"Hi dear, I don’t know what's wrong and I am worried as hell."

It turns out that our "store security guard" told us not to send the card numbers.

"Lionel, I don’t even know what to think. The police told me this is a scam. And that I shouldn't talk to you anymore," we write, adding sad emojis.

Tonight’s the Night

On concert night, we tell him we went to the show anyway. Lionel pretends he was waiting for us backstage, but his management put a stop to the unpaid one-on-one meeting.

"Breaks my heart," he writes mournfully. "All I have been waiting for I didn’t get."

Of course, even if you did pay, the meet-and-greet would never happen. You'd be standing, waiting, in an empty theater lobby, your dreams crushed.

The official Lionel Richie channels say he and his management will never reach out to schedule a meet-and-greet. If someone does, they said, it's fraudulent.

Three Attacks

Game over? No.

"I want a chance to prove them wrong," sham Lionel says. And to get those cards numbers.

First, he tracks down deepfake audio of Lionel Richie and sends a personalized voice message.

"My beautiful Karen, I am sending you this quickly and privately just to express how much you mean to me and how much I've grown to love you."

He also claims he’ll come to visit us, staying for a week at our house. Not for free, of course.

"You still have the cards, yeah?” he queries casually. "Send them now babes. My tech guy is ready to redeem them."

And he finally fulfills our request for a personal rendition of Lionel Richie's famous "Hello" song. In a video call, he claims he's singing live, with his real voice, over instrumental music. But he's clearly lip-syncing. Especially when he forgets to move his mouth to the words.

Despite all the love, no cards.

The Final Move

Doppelganger Lionel tries one last play. He claims he's trying to leave the Church of Scientology, but they've taken all his money and threatened his life.

He shows a fake letter on Church of Scientology letterhead saying Lionel Richie must pay $750,000 in taxes to get everything back, echoing another scam with a fake Leonardo DiCaprio in 2022.

From us, he requests just $800 to pay his doctor for back pain medication because the Church and his management have "taken" his medical insurance.

When we ask for his doctor's address, he gives us his doctor's cryptocurrency address, not his physical location.

"Babe he doesn’t want me sharing it cuz he's administering help to me privately behind the church," his message reads. "They will kill him if they find out. That’s why he doesn't want me sharing his address.”

Ampyx News contacted the Church of Scientology about the scam, but the Church did not respond.

The Final Chapter

When we won't pay his fake doctor for his fake back pain meds, Lionel finally begins to question our love.

"My dear Karen. I asked that you help me get Apple gift cards, but you never made mention of them again," he complains in a deepfake voice message. "Meaning if it was a matter of life and death, I will be gone by now because you won't even consider helping me. Have a good day, though."

After two months undercover, it’s time to break up.

"Why do you scam people?" we ask.

Loving Lionel gets vicious:

"I blame myself for bringing my standard down just for you. Ugly thing, you couldn’t even send more than one photo cuz you know you're ugly. Never seen someone uglier than you. No wonder you can’t find love, I mean, who will love an ugly creature like you?"

But we use AI pictures, too.

"You thought I sent a real photo!" we respond.

And with that, Lionel folds.

However, it is too late. He's revealed tools and tactics behind the multibillion-dollar fake celebrity scams. Now you know the tricks. And when a scammer says, "Hello," you can bid them farewell. With feeling.