Keanu Reeves scammer swindles widow, 67, out of life savings in romance fraud: ‘I was lonely’
By Andrew Court
Published Dec. 27, 2024, 7:50 p.m. ET
A San Diego senior is now living in her car after being swindled out of her savings by a scammer pretending to be Keanu Reeves.
Katherine Goodson, 67, has gone public with her harrowing story in a bid to raise awareness about the rise in celebrity romance scams impacting the elderly.
“I don’t blame anyone but myself,” the widow, who lost her husband in 2007, told NBC affiliate KNSD.
Goodson moved to San Diego in 2022, the same year she received a text message from a person purporting to be the Hollywood hunk, famed for flicks such as “Point Break” and “The Matrix.”
The Reeves impersonator subsequently asked Goodson to send him a $500 gift card to prove she wasn’t just interested in him for his money.
“I did send it, but said, ‘I want to hear your voice,’ and once I heard his voice, I said, ‘You’re not him,’ and I blocked him,” Goodson told the network.
Later, however, she received a message from another person claiming they were the real Reeves.
The purported “John Wick” star told Goodson he felt “awful” that she had been the victim of a scam, and the pair promptly began exchanging messages.
The widower said she quickly began falling in love via text.
“He wanted to marry me,” she cooed. “I was lonely.”
For the next two years, Goodson corresponded with the man via text, but he always had an excuse as to why he could not meet in person.
Despite this, the senior sent money, gift cards and Bitcoin, totaling more than $60,000 in value.
She also corresponded with strangers via other phone numbers who claimed to be “members of Reeves’ management team.”
In August, however, Goodson ran out of money and the messages from “Reeves and his team” turned hostile.
She subsequently realized she had been swindled.
“It was just a mess,” Goodson recalled. “It was mind-boggling to the point that I didn’t know my head from anything.”