An elderly California couple found dead in a suspected murder-suicide had recently been scammed by someone posing as actor Tom Selleck, a longtime friend said.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Donald Whitaker, 80, and his wife, Karen Whitaker, 79, were found dead May 15 in their Bermuda Dunes home after someone requested a welfare check, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. They both had traumatic injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. On Thursday, the sheriff’s office said that Karen had been a victim of financial elder abuse and that officials believe the couple died in a murder-suicide. Authorities said there is no evidence that the unknown scammer or scammers were involved in the deaths, but that the incident remains under investigation. Selleck is not accused of any wrongdoing or involvement. Joy Miedecke, 81, a friend, said she met Karen through the East Valley Republican Women Patriots club and had known the couple for more than a decade. She said a neighbor requested a welfare check when Karen failed to show up for a Friday morning card game.Miedecke said the alleged scam began a year ago after Karen posted memories of a high school friend who had died. Days later, someone messaged Karen to let her know that they, too, knew the friend. “Somebody got a hold of her on Facebook and said they were Tom Selleck, and that they had dated this girl years ago,” Miedecke said Friday. Miedecke said Karen shared her phone number with that person, thinking they had something in common. As the pair texted, the scammer started to learn more about Karen and gained her trust. Miedecke said the scammer first asked for money in November, when they asked Karen to buy an $80 ticket to an event they were holding in the area. Miedecke said the scammer asked her friend to send the money via a gift card. “He told her how to send it, and she immediately did,” Miedecke said. The Federal Trade Commission warns that scammers often instruct victims to buy a gift card and share the numbers on the back. The scammers use the card number to access money loaded on the card. Miedecke said the scammer told Karen the event had been canceled. “He kept writing her and gaining her trust and becoming her friend. And then he decided that he was going to have the event again and told her you can buy a whole table for all your friends, it’s $800. She immediately sent him $800. That was the beginning,” she said. “Then he needed money for this, and that and the other, and it just kept growing.” Karen told her friends about the messages, and they became concerned, Miedecke said.“Of course, immediately we said, ‘No, that’s not Tom Selleck. This is a scam.’ But she wouldn’t believe anybody,” she said. Miedecke said that she contacted the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office for help and that deputies spoke to Karen and provided “lots of proof” that it was a scam. The sheriff’s office said the financial elder abuse had been reported to them. Karen continued to send money, Miedecke said. When the messages became “almost a little bit romantic,” Miedecke said she went back to the sheriff’s office and asked if adult protective services could get involved. She said Donald Whitaker first learned about the scam when adult protective services workers visited the couple’s home in January. According to Miedecke, Donald and the couple’s adult children tried to intervene. “They cut up all of her credit cards, they closed the accounts, but she still found ways to get money,” Miedecke said. “She started hiding everything, but she’d be texting all day and all night, it was continuous.” The couple’s daughter declined to comment Friday. Other family members could not immediately be reached. The day before their deaths, Karen had asked her friends for money, Miedecke said. A representative for Selleck did not immediately respond to request for comment. Miedecke said she’s not sure why her friend believed that the person she was talking to was the “Blue Bloods” actor, but she wants other elderly people to be aware. “I am very upset with the fact that we have an aging population and that people are going to be scammed like this,” she said.