ALDA loses thousands in online scam by someone posing as Lauren Ridloff
Around two weeks ago, the Association of Late Deafened Adults (ALDA) lost between $4,000 to $5,000 in a scam when they paid speaking fees to someone who fraudulently posed as deaf actress Lauren Ridloff.
ALDA is an organization that supports and empowers those who became deaf later in life. They regularly host a conference in the fall.
I was able to chat with a representative from ALDA for information on what happened. The representative said an ALDA planning committee tasked with finding a conference speaker decided they would approach Ridloff for a potential speaking gig. ALDA reached out to a Facebook profile that purported to be Lauren Ridloff. The person on the other end identified themselves as “Ted” and said he was the “head of Lauren’s management team” and asked to move the conversation to email.
This “Ted” person gave a rate for the speaking fee that was a higher amount — around $20,000 — and ALDA said it was too much and was ready to walk away. “Ted” then said he could work out a deal if the ALDA was to make a donation towards a charitable foundation called “Sign Revival For All.” ALDA said “Ted” requested the money to be paid via Bitcoin, which the ALDA found strange. ALDA said they couldn’t do Bitcoin, and both parties agreed on a bank-to-bank payment to what they thought was the bank for the foundation of about $4,000 to $5,000. ALDA sent a contract and received what they thought was a signed form from Ridloff.
ALDA then moved on to reserving flight tickets. They saw that the price was about $2,000, which was unusually high. “Ted” said it was to cover the cost of Lauren and her interpreter. ALDA asked for paperwork to show the flight costs, and when they received it, they saw that the interpreter’s name was Joshua Jackson, the actor. ALDA said this was another red flag and that “Ted” said Jackson would interpret for Ridloff on traveling engagements. ALDA then decided to reach out to contacts within the film industry and IMDB to try and verify whether they were actually talking with Ridloff. ALDA was able to get ahold of someone close to Ridloff, and that’s when they found out that unfortunately, they were scammed. The Facebook page did not belong to Lauren Ridloff and the foundation did not exist.
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ALDA said they contacted local police, their bank account, and the FBI’s Internet Crimes Complaint Center (IC3). ALDA said the case is now being investigated but they were warned that they might not see their money back. ALDA said this “Ted” person forged Ridloff’s signature on the contract.
ALDA said they want to make it clear that Ridloff was never involved in any of this — she had no idea. ALDA will move on to find another speaker for their conference.
Ridloff posted on Instagram that “There are people on Facebook pretending to be me. Soliciting donations for an imaginary foundation. Asking for payment for booking fees and plane tickets, etc. I do not have an official Facebook page. I am verified only here on IG and Twitter. I am sincerely sorry if you’ve been affected and encourage you to report if you’ve been victimized. Again, I am truly sorry.”
ALDA said they didn’t realize that social media pages provide a blue check / “verified” next to public figures’ accounts to verify that it is actually them. ALDA said they’ve learned this and encourage others out there to make sure they’re talking with the actual person and that the blue “verified” mark will help to ensure this.
The Facebook page that posed as Ridloff’s page has since been deleted. Here’s hoping that somehow authorities will be able to track down on who this “Ted” character is. For now, this is a warning and a lesson for organizations out there to take the time to verify that they are talking with the actual person or verified representative of whoever they want to reach out to.