A bus tour of Hollywood stars' mansions is a sightseeing must for many Australians visiting Los Angeles, but they might be being duped.
An investigation by an LA TV station, which took 20 separate tours, has found Hollywood home tour operators are charging up to $US50 ($A65) a person but are pointing out homes not owned by celebrities.
That has had frightening consequences for some regular LA homeowners, including Michael Edson, who has been confronted by desperate and mentally disturbed fans of Julia Roberts because his mansion is falsely promoted as the Oscar winner's.
"Julia Roberts has never lived in this house and has never been to this house," Mr Edson told NBC4.
Mr Edson said he was recently woken up in the middle of the night, discovered a single red rose on a table and was punched in the face when he found the masked intruder painting a message on a wall.
Security footage at his home also recorded a physical confrontation with another fan who came to his front door.
He also receives creepy love letters penned for Roberts, including one that warned, "I see your house burning in flames around us."
NBC4 found tour bus companies also incorrectly pointed out the homes of Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Meryl Streep, Britney Spears, Robert Downey jnr, Justin Bieber, Orlando Bloom, Nicole Richie and Jennifer Lopez.
When NBC4 confronted one tour operator, LA Scene Tours, a representative told them the tours were "all about fun" and they were not supposed to be accurate.
On an LA Scene Tours ride a guide was shown pointing to a home Michael Jackson once lived in and saying, "This house right here, you see the balcony? That's where he was dangling the baby."
He was referring to the 2002 incident in which Jackson dangled his young son over a hotel balcony, but that happened in Germany.
