Hackers impersonating major music stars have stolen an estimated $5.3 billion from fans in 2025 alone, according to a new report examining the rise of AI-powered celebrity scams across social media.
The figure comes from a report by social media security company Spikerz, which found that scammers posing as artists including Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and Billie Eilish used fake accounts, hacked profiles, and cloned content to trick fans into buying nonexistent tickets, merch, VIP experiences, and cryptocurrency schemes.
Spikerz identified platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and X as “high-risk entry points for fraud and brand damage,” with impersonation scams becoming increasingly convincing as generative AI tools improve.
Taylor Swift & Sabrina Capenter impersonators top scammer charts
The report names Swift and Carpenter as the most impersonated artists of 2025, followed by Billie Eilish, BTS, Adele, Ed Sheeran, BLACKPINK, Ariana Grande, Drake, and Lewis Capaldi. Scammers deliberately target musicians because of the high level of trust and engagement artists build with fans online.
“Social platforms have become the most important connection point between artists and their audiences, and therefore, the most vulnerable,” said Scott Cohen, The Orchard co-founder and advisor to Spikerz. “If we want artists to innovate and experiment, we have to give them digital environments where they’re not constantly under attack.”
The scams take multiple forms. Swift fans were targeted with realistic fake ticket listings, merch stores, and VIP packages, while Carpenter’s younger fanbase was hit with cloned accounts advertising fraudulent meet-and-greet offers and pre-sale links.
Billie Eilish impersonators ran fake livestreams and giveaways designed to harvest personal information and payments.
Creative CommonsA Billboard report also highlights several high-profile incidents from 2025, including hackers who simultaneously took over the Instagram accounts of Adele, Future, Tyla, Pink Floyd, and the estate of Michael Jackson to promote a cryptocurrency scam that netted at least $49,000.
In another case, scammers impersonating Johnny Depp and his team reportedly took hundreds of thousands of dollars from individual victims.
Beyond direct financial losses, Spikerz warns that impersonation scams damage artists’ reputations and long-term earning power.
“When fans are duped by a fake account into buying non-existent merch, tickets, or experiences, the artist not only loses revenue, but suffers a blow to reputation that undermines future sales and engagements.”
