A Pennsylvania man was reportedly scammed out of over $42,000 by someone impersonating WWE superstar Rhea Ripley.
According to Pennsylvania State Police in Kittanning, they began investigating the case back in March after a 64-year-old man from East Butler, Pennsylvania, reported being scammed out of $42,700.
The man was reportedly tricked into sending online payments to the Rhea Ripley impersonator. However, according to police, the victim refused to cooperate with their investigation.
Rhea Ripley, real name Demi Bennett, is a 29-year-old Australian professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. She is a two-time Women’s World Champion and a two-time WWE Women’s Champion. She is currently sidelined after sustaining a torn meniscus at Clash in Italy on May 31, an injury that forced her to vacate the WWE Women’s Championship.
A similar, but much larger WWE-related scam occurred in 2024
In 2024, scammers posing as WWE superstar Alexa Bliss swindled a 79-year-old man out of almost $1 million in retirement savings, including his granddaughter’s college fund.
The man was absolutely convinced that he was in a romantic relationship with Bliss. So much so that, even though Bliss never actually communicated with him by audio or video, he still refused to believe she wasn’t real.
“There was nothing we could do to convince him,” his son said.
For her part, Alexa Bliss, a five-time WWE champion, has issued multiple warnings to her fans online about being repeatedly used by imposters in money scams. Several other WWE wrestlers, including three-time champion Liv Morgan and seven-time champion Becky Lynch, have also posted on social media to warn fans about these scams.