Sandra Bullock shares 'deep concern' for family's safety after social media fraud
Sandra Bullock is raising her concerns about social media scams.
"My family's safety, as well as the innocent people being taken advantage of, is my deep concern, and there will be a time when I will comment more, but for now our focus is helping law enforcement handle this matter," the Oscar winner said in a statement to People on Monday.
"Please be aware that I do not participate in any form of social media," the statement continued. "Any accounts pretending to be me or anyone associated with me are fake accounts and have been created for financial gain or to exploit people around me."
The statement from Bullock came a day after her sister, Gesine Bullock-Prado, shared a post on Instagram stating the accounts that are impersonating her on Facebook.
"Another day, the same lack of safety and response from @meta @metaforbusiness @zuck," she began in the caption. "I'm just posting a few FB imposter accounts, all of which I've reported both on this app and to a live human at @meta. Surprise! They are all still up!"
She continued, "I spend multiple times a day reporting fakes, dealing with weird & scary emails to my BUSINESS and HOME from men who believe that, through one of these many fake 'me's, they have a relationship with my sister through private messages and off app sites and have been giving (sometimes) THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS to an incredibly famous and successful grown assed woman."
Bullock-Prado wrote she has also filed a report to a security service that gives the account "addresses directly to a Meta employee."
"These accounts are run by crime rings," she said. "They also run fake groups where a fake me posts 'official statements.' Not me. This is my only account and y'all know it's about baking, cooking, animals, and gardening."
"I'm a grown assed middle aged woman with a life and I don't troll around at 54 DMing people," she added, urging the public to report and block any fake accounts pretending to be her.
She explained that she stays on Facebook primarily to monitor these scams and stay aware of potential threats, noting that she has even had to involve local law enforcement due to the severity of some of the scams.
While she praised Instagram for proactively handling impersonation accounts, she criticized Facebook for failing to take action despite being part of the same company.
Bullock-Prado also referenced a report about a French woman named Anne, who was scammed out of over $800,000 by fraudsters posing as Brad Pitt, according to France24. They convinced her they were in a relationship and that he needed financial help for medical expenses.
As a result, Anne reportedly fell into severe depression and required hospital treatment.
"At first I said to myself that it was fake, that it's ridiculous," Anne told French channel TF1, per France24. "But I'm not used to social media and I didn't really understand what was happening to me."
"I ask myself why they chose me to do such harm like this?" she added at the time. "I've never harmed anyone. These people deserve hell."
ABC News has reached out to representatives of Bullock and Meta but did not hear back immediately.
