A 64-year-old man has fallen victim to a scam that cost him more than $42,000. The incident reportedly took place in March 2026, with the scammer pretending to be WWE Superstar Rhea Ripley. Despite the financial losses, the victim has reportedly been uncooperative with the police or with their investigation.
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"Troopers said an unknown person or persons were portraying themselves as WWE wrestler Rhea Ripley," local news station WPXI reports. "They were able to get $42,700 from a 64-year-old man through this scheme."
Due to the victim's unwillingness to discuss the incident, no arrests have been made. Furthermore, Ripley hasn't made any public comment regarding the situation.
This isn't the first time someone has fallen victim to a scammer posing as a WWE superstar. In 2004, a 79-year-old man handed over approximately $1 million of his retirement savings to someone he thought was Alexa Bliss. He also handed over his granddaughter's college fund over the course of multiple years.
With the rise in AI and generative video, it's becoming easier and easier for scammers to dupe people. Oftentimes, those videos can display an uncanny likeness, especially when pretending to be a star with countless hours of archive footage to pull and learn from.
Rhea Ripley Previously Called Out AI-Generated Versions of Her
Earlier this year, Ripley called out a fan for posting an AI-generated image of her online. The image was simply of the WWE star facing a camera in wrestling gear and holding a championship belt. However, Ripley quickly jumped into the comments section to confirm she'd never taken photographs in that specific gear.
"I never took photos in this gear," she wrote.
Ripley's response led to sizeable backlash toward the fan who had posted the image. However, the larger issue was how easily they created it in the first place.
Scammers are likely using similar tactics to defraud their targets. Hopefully, more and more people will become skeptical of "stars" reaching out on social media as the risks of AI become more apparent.
As for the victim in this instance, it's their choice whether they want to press charges or not.
