Even though family and friends should always be trusted more than anybody else, some celebrities actually retreat considering that. Being a wealthy Hollywood celebrity puts you at risk to anyone with wrong motives, including family and friends. Nowadays, scammers, fraudsters, and conmen are becoming more expertly skilled in their attempts to obtain someone's money and personal information. It is far preferable to exercise constant caution, remain vigilant, and defend yourself against them. When you have money, no matter how many good people are around you, terrible individuals will ultimately get into your circle.
Being scammed is always a possibility, especially by those you know and respect. If you have millions of dollars in cash, you are pretty much a target for con artists. A scammer is a bad thing, the one you believed is a scammer is actually the next level. The celebrities on the following list have been scammed by their own relatives.
#1 Anne Hathaway
Source: IMDb
The Golden Globe Award winner Anne Hathaway was scammed once by her then-boyfriend Raffaello Follieri, whom she loved madly. In 2008, the American actress partner admitted to scramming her for at least $2.4 million. The said amount was literally taken from the bank account of the Hollywood actress.
#2 Courtney Love
Source: Biography
Courtney Love was scammed of her legitimate fortune by a reliable friend as well. Being the widow of Nirvana's vocalist Kurt Cobain, Love was eligible to inherit his estate when he passed away in 1994. Love has acquired the publication rights to Nirvana's songs as well, which makes sense given that they were one of their most popular groups during their reign. But their dependable money managers had conned Love and stolen the inheritance. The crooks stole a $500 million real estate fortune in addition to an estimated $30 million in cash.
#3 Dane Cook
Source: IMDb
Dane Cook, a well-known comedian, was scammed out of a stunning $12 million by his own brother. Cook's half-brother and sister-in-law defrauded him for years before their deception was discovered in 2010. Money from Cook's account was being covertly transferred by Darryl McCauley and his wife Erika into their own accounts. McCauley befriended his brother and used his trust to steal millions of dollars for himself. Little did McCauley realize that Cook had engaged him as a financial advisor while he was up to no good.
#4 Gerard Butler
Source: keywordbaskets
Gerard Butler, a Scottish actor, and producer, was scammed by people he thought of as friends. He asserted that the creators of the 2013 film Olympus Have Fallen conned him out of around $10 million in 2021. Butler said he received nothing from the $170 million in box office receipts for the aforementioned film. He's already taken legal action against the producers for failing to pay him anything.
#5 Kiefer Sutherland
Source: NME
One of the many people who Michael Wayne Carr's con artist preyed upon was Kiefer Sutherland. Carr was a well-known cattle manager and advocate of steer roping. He once came under fire for allegedly defrauding investors of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sutherland never had the chance to meet Carr in person, but he received an invitation to invest from a close friend he made while filming a role as a cowboy who ropes cattle. In the Ponzi scheme that took place in 2006, he lost almost $900,000.
#6 Nicolas Cage
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
The renowned actor Nicolas Cage was duped by his manager. Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage is well known for having some financial difficulties, but he claims that his former business manager, Samuel Levin, is responsible for all of his financial issues. He is accused of defrauding Cage million over the years. He was looking for $20 million in compensation, and Cage feels Levin defrauded him of that sum.
#7 Rihanna
Source: Forbes
Rihanna's dependable accountants defrauded millions from her. The nine-time Grammy Award-winning singer worked hard to amass her millions of networks; sadly, she placed the wrong people in those networks. It's been claimed that her accountants used financial fraud to steal millions from her. Rihanna's financial situation was brought to ruin in 2014 by the incident. About $9 million total was taken from the singer in fraud.
#8 Sting
Source: IMDb
The well-known musician and actor Sting was duped by his dependable financial advisor. According to reports, his financial advisor embezzled millions from him. His trusted financial advisor, Keith Moore, allegedly conned him out of a total of $9.4 million. Moore had been defrauding the musician for years, but he was completely unaware of it.
#9 Sylvester Stallone
Source: Biography
The action actor treated Kenneth Starr, his financial advisor in Hollywood, as though he were family; unfortunately for him, he believes they deceived him. Sylvester Stallone may appear tough on screen, but he was often taken advantage of. According to the reports of VanityFair, Starr conned him out of around $10 million. Starr intentionally gave him poor financial advice, which resulted in his financial loss. When it was eventually established that Starr had defrauded Stallone, he was given a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence.
#10 Wesley Snipes
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
The actor from Blade was scammed by his reliable financial advisors. The actor was taken advantage of by the people he trusted when they failed to file his tax return, which ultimately resulted in the actor doing three years in prison and having to pay the IRS $23.5 million in fines. The actor contends that his advisors duped him and that it was not his fault. He asserts that his financial advisors informed him that he was legally permitted to forgo paying taxes. Until 2000, when he likely first met his advisors, he diligently paid his taxes.
