Ioan Gruffudd Shares Distressing AI Scam Warning After Fan Claim
Actor Ioan Gruffudd warned fans in an Instagram post that an impostor using AI images and videos convinced a woman she was in a year-long relationship with him. He has reported the case to police and says no money changed hands.
Actor Ioan Gruffudd shares distressing news in an Instagram post published Sunday: a woman believed she had been in an "extramarital relationship" with him for over a year, after someone posing as him sent her hundreds of AI-generated images and videos.
The "Fantastic Four" actor learned of it at a Chattanooga Comic Con in Tennessee, where the woman approached him.
What Gruffudd said
"Something incredibly distressing and disturbing has been brought to my attention," he wrote. He said the woman showed him hundreds of "explicit and disturbing" AI images and videos sent by someone claiming to be him.
The messages ran through Telegram, the messaging app, over roughly a year.
How the impostor reached her
The woman was apparently targeted through a Facebook page for the TV series "Elsbeth." There, the scammer obtained her phone number and asked to continue the conversation on Telegram.
Gruffudd appeared in one episode of the CBS series in 2025, playing Angus Oliphant-Donnachaidh.
Police report and no money lost
Gruffudd said he never gives his cell number to people he does not know. He has reported the matter to police and passed on the woman's phone number to investigators.
On his Instagram story, he later stressed that this was not a money scam. "No funds ever requested from her or sent by her," he wrote.
He said the woman told him that was exactly why she never questioned the contact. "I clarify this as the victim specifically stated that this was the reason why she never questioned it and what made her believe that this was truly me. Please be careful out there," he added.
Advice to fans
He told fans that anyone messaging them as him is not him. "If you believe you are speaking to me via message, Telegram, any social media pages that aren't this page (@ioangruffudd), or any other means, this is not me," he said.
"Please do not engage and never send money! I urge you to ignore and block all contact from anyone that claims to be me."
Gruffudd has been married to Bianca Wallace since April 2025. They have a daughter, Mila Mae, born last November. He also has two daughters with his ex-wife Alice Evans.
