A woman approached Ioan Gruffudd at a fan convention believing they had been having a secret relationship for more than a year. The Fantastic Four actor says she had been communicating with an impersonator, not him.
Gruffudd, 53, described the encounter in a November 8 Instagram statement. The woman showed him hundreds of photographs and videos, including intimate material, that he identified as AI-generated. He called the discovery “incredibly distressing and disturbing,” according to PEOPLE.
Entertainment Weekly identified the event as Chattanooga Comic Con in Tennessee. The convention took place November 7 and 8, according to its official schedule.
His wife, actress Bianca Wallace, also shared his warnings on Instagram and urged women to be cautious. The couple married in April 2025.
An Elsbeth Facebook Page Led the Woman to Telegram
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Gruffudd said the initial contact came through a Facebook page devoted to Elsbeth. The person posing as him supplied a cellphone number and asked the woman to continue their conversations on Telegram. The material she subsequently received was presented as proof that the account belonged to the actor.
He had guest-starred in the CBS drama’s February 13, 2025, episode, “Tiny Town.” The network’s announcement introduced his character, Angus, as a Scottish musician who develops a connection with Carrie Preston’s Elsbeth while they work together on a case.
Gruffudd Clarifies That Nobody Asked the Woman for Money
In a November 9 Instagram Story, Gruffudd addressed a detail that distinguished this encounter from an impersonation scheme seeking payment. “No funds ever requested from her or sent by her,” he wrote, as TheWrap reported.
He said the woman had told him that the absence of a financial demand was one reason she trusted the messages. In his account, the person behind them had focused on sustaining a false romantic relationship. Gruffudd did not publicly identify the woman.
The Actor Urges Fans to Block Impersonators and Contact Police
Gruffudd identified @ioangruffudd as his Instagram account and warned followers against people claiming to be him through other profiles or private messaging services. “I will never give out my cell number to anyone that I don’t personally know,” he wrote in the statement reproduced by the Press Association.
His advice was to stop communicating with impersonators and block them. He also warned followers not to send money to anyone using his identity, even though the woman he met had not been asked for a payment.
Wallace reposted both the original warning and the subsequent clarification, according to Entertainment Weekly. Her messages encouraged other women to take the situation seriously.
Gruffudd said he had reported the impersonation to police and asked anyone else targeted to provide investigators with the person’s contact details. He subsequently called for AI regulation in an interview with TMZ.