Overview

• Connolly announced on his website that AI-generated voice and likeness clones are being used to impersonate him to extort fans.
• He clarified that his only social presence is his official Facebook page and that he never directly messages supporters, sells memberships or requests payments.
• Scammers have created fake social media and email accounts to lure followers into private messaging apps before demanding money for merchandise or meetings, with some fans receiving more than a dozen fake messages.
• Pamela Stephenson and members of Connolly’s family are also being impersonated, and none of them have public social media profiles.
• Voice cloning tools can replicate a person’s voice from seconds of audio, and scandals such as the AI-driven Brad Pitt romance scam that netted nearly £700,000 warn of a growing threat to celebrity followers.