Woman Loses $300k To Kenny Chesney Impersonator, Takes Real Singer To Court For It
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A California woman lost $300,000 after falling victim to an online scammer pretending to be country star Kenny Chesney.
It’s a story we’ve heard before. Hundreds of people have lost large amounts of money after being tricked into thinking that they were talking to their favorite celebrities.
With AI becoming more common these days, it’s also getting easier for scammers to trick people, especially older adults who may not be familiar with how quickly the technology is advancing.
Unfortunately, a woman named Patricia Linson has become one of the latest fans to be tricked.
Patricia had been communicating online with someone she believed was Chesney. It’s unclear exactly how long they had been talking, but the scammer gained enough of her trust that she eventually sent them $300,000 because she believed the “Summertime” singer needed it.
Not long after sending the money, Patricia realized she wasn’t actually talking to Chesney. She took the matter to court in hopes of getting back the money she lost.
But here’s the surprising part: instead of going after the scammer, Patricia sued the actual country star.
Obviously, Chesney had nothing to do with the scam. However, Patricia argued otherwise.
According to court documents, she argued that Chesney had a responsibility to warn his fans about potential scammers using his name and said he failed to do so.
“Linson alleged, among other things, that Chesney likely knew third parties were impersonating him to steal money from others and that he owed her a duty to warn and protect her against such scams,” the document states.
She also claimed in her lawsuit that she believed one of Chesney’s employees was behind the scam.
“Linson also alleged that an unknown employee of Chesney may have aided and abetted the impersonator by leaking confidential information about Chesney’s music business to the impersonator, which the impersonator used to convince Linson that he was Chesney. As a result, Linson claimed Chesney was also liable for her loss under vicarious liability and negligent hiring, supervision, and retention theories”
Fan vs. Kenny Chesney – What Was The Verdict?
So, what was the result of all of this? Well, it probably doesn’t come as a shock that Chesney came out unscathed.
Patricia’s argument was not convincing enough for the Los Angeles appeals court. The court ruled that the singer was not at fault for the scam.
“Chesney did not owe her a duty to warn or protect her against the impersonator’s scam,” says the official ruling. “We conclude the court correctly found Chesney owed Linson no such duty. Because Linson has not otherwise shown the court erred in dismissing any of her claims against Chesney, we affirm.”
Situations like this have happened far too often, so it’s important to remember that a celebrity would most likely never reach out to a fan asking for money.
Kenny Chesney isn’t the only country star whose name has been used in scams. Miranda Lambert, Toby Keith, Vince Gill, and many others have had scammers impersonate them and try to get money from their fans.
