Keanu Reeves is not in Love With You, by Becky Holmes

Celebrity ‘love bombing’ has been around as long as social media has existed. Spoiler alert/clue: Keanu Reeves doesn’t ‘do’ social media, let alone use it to hook up with completely strange women. Which makes this sound like a very short book, when in fact it’s a fun romp through a very specific grooming technique: online financial grooming, often called ‘Love Fraud’.

But whilst Keanu Reeves not being available on social media, leave alone finding you for a relationship. the central premise of the book, it tackles the serious issue of online grooming with a view to stealing your money (love fraud - financial grooming).

And it’s done in an entertaining way, despite the serious message.

Holmes makes compelling points about the people who groom, the people who are groomed, and the ways to spot scammers – all with a spark of hilarity, her sparkly wit wrapped in an unassuming woolly cardigan.

Other than Keanu Reeves, Prince William, and celebrities in general, peacekeepers (soldiers) and oil rig workers come in for some stick as likely to be a cover for scammers if ‘they’ appear to be approaching you online. (It must be tough life if you really are a senior ranking military man or a genuine rig worker, although why you’d try and hit on someone unknown online is up for debate.)

The serious side is the harm these scammers do, sextortion, and the harms that go well beyond financial harm. (Our own research shows that the loss of money pales by comparison to the emotional cost of this crime.)

Wasting the time of scammers, who, let’s face it, have to be viewed as fair game, has become a hobby for her. I can see why – the idea of scamming the scammers and rattling their cages is deliciously wicked. It’s even had me wondering if I should start getting up earlier just to join the fun.

But there is, of course, a serious side, and solid advice for all who’ve been approached, or could be, by these chancers. Holmes raises red flags including when people ask for payments in gaming cards/vouchers - or pretend to be celebrities. She offers sound advice in absolutely inimitable style.

Rarely do books on grooming become a guilty pleasure or raise more than a wry smile, but this does with aplomb. Recommended reading!

Holmes, Becky. Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love with You. The Murky World of Online Romance Fraud Narrated by Becky Holmes Audible, 2024. https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Keanu-Reeves-Is-Not-in-Love-with-You-Audiobook/B0CW3WQ5J7