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FBI agents say they nailed a coronavirus snake oil salesman -- a SoCal man who allegedly claimed he had a cure, and used Magic Johnson's name to try to snare investors.

Ya just knew this was bound to happen ... the FBI arrested Keith Lawrence Middlebrook Wednesday evening in an undercover sting. The feds say Middlebrook delivered pills to an agent posing as a potential investor.

He allegedly claimed to have developed a "patent-pending cure" that would prevent people from getting infected, and also treat those already suffering from COVID-19.

The feds say Middlebrook solicited funds from investors and promised huge profits from his company, Quantum Prevention CV. For instance, the FBI says he told a cooperating witness a $1 million investment would turn into $200 to $300 million, conservatively.

He also allegedly dropped Magic Johnson's name to at least one potential investor ... claiming Magic was on his board of directors. The feds say they checked with Magic, who confirmed he had NO clue about Middlebrook or his "company."

Attorney General William Barr warned this week, during a White House briefing, the feds would come down hard on anyone preying on fears surrounding the pandemic.

True enough, Middlebrook's been charged with wire fraud, which carries a max sentence of 20 years.

Ariana Grande's well aware of the plight of many of her fans amid the coronavirus pandemic, and she's answering calls for help by sending some of them cash to get through these tough times ... TMZ has learned.

Several sources have told us ... the pop star's been communicating on the regular with her fans on social media, who've opened up about financial struggles -- like not being able to pay upcoming bills -- because they've lost their retail or service industry jobs for the time being.

We're told in at least 10 instances -- maybe more -- Ariana had connected with fans who've lost their jobs and sent them a cash donation ... via Venmo.

Fans have told us they've received Venmo payments ranging from $500 to $1,500 ... and it's something she's been doing on the down-low the past few days.

Our sources say Grande's donations seem to be random luck of the draw based on her Twitter interactions ... other than that, she's focusing on those really in a pinch and out of work. She's especially sympathetic to people who have lost their job in the retail industry.

One guy apparently got some Venmo money shortly after telling Grande he was short on rent for April because he was no longer pulling in a paycheck.

It's an incredibly kind gesture, but Ariana's going to have way too many potential donations candidates soon, based on the new jobless report ... more than 2 and a half MILLION Americans are expected to file for unemployment.

Aging whiskey's cool and all, but not when there's a shortage of hand sanitizer ... enter Copper Fiddle Distillery.

The Lake Zurich, Illinois-based company has seen its whiskey, rum and bourbon sales dry up but it's stepping up in a huge way to help first-responders fight the raging coronavirus pandemic ... by turning its alcohol into some much-needed hand sanitizer, free of charge.

A state senator reportedly asked owner Andrew Macker last week if he'd be up to the challenge. So far, there have been more than enough donations made to help the company crank out the supply in droves.

Macker told The Daily Herald, they've so far made around 100 bottles with another batch coming hopefully by the end of the month. They reportedly used about 45 cases of unsold bottles of rum -- converting them from 80 proof to 160 proof -- to get the first batch done.

BTW ... tons of other distilleries across the country are also jumping in to help. Tito's Handmade Vodka also announced it'll do the same. Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff will also donate more than 500,000 gallons of neutral grain spirit that'll be converted into 8 million bottles of hand sanitizer.

You know it's real when the signs come down ...

Workers in Japan began taking down banners for the Olympic torch relay Thursday morning -- and it's still unclear when they'll go back up!

As we previously reported, Olympic officials -- along with Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe -- decided to finally postpone the 2020 Tokyo Games due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The torch relay event -- set to begin in Fukushima -- was supposed to kick off a series of high profile events in a ramp-up to the Games, originally set to begin in July.

But, that's been scrapped -- and while organizers try to figure out a new date for the Games, the torch will remain on display in Japan in a lantern.

The Flame was first lit in Olympia, Greece on March 12 in a small, fan-less ceremony -- before the Games were officially postponed. It was then flown to Japan.

Call it growing fear of coronavirus, or just people going stir crazy -- but cops are getting some strange, paranoid and even troubling phone calls.

Law enforcement sources in L.A. tell TMZ ... a major uptick in these bizarre calls started after California's Gov. Newsom issued the "stay at home" order last week -- an order many are taking VERY seriously.

For instance ... we're told people have called to report neighbors for exercising in their yards or simply eating outside. Others have ratted on their neighbors or nearby businesses because gardeners and landscapers are still showing up to work on their properties.

Fact is, those activities aren't illegal, but some L.A. residents clearly frown upon them. Landscaping is considered an "essential activity" in certain cases if it contributes to sanitation needs, but not if it's just to trim a homeowner's hedges.

Other snitching calls are coming from social distancing warriors, so to speak. We mean folks reporting people for playing basketball at outdoor parks, gathering in large groups outside or companies with more than 10 employees still going into the office.

Then, there's just COVID-19 paranoia calls to report neighbors coughing. Even more extreme ... we're told police even got a call to check out 2 people sitting on a bus bench who were coughing.

Point is, while many new restrictions were put in place this week to encourage Los Angelenos to stop gathering at beaches, parks and hiking trails -- the majority of residents are taking the quarantine seriously.

Maybe too much, because we're told cops are also getting many calls from people asking for a permit to go outside.

Coronavirus isn't stopping people from getting their party on -- they're just doing it in front of computer screens at home now. Welcome to 2020.

Due to multiple state-wide stay-at-home orders, the online event planning biz is seeing a massive spike in engagement for all sorts of get-togethers ... some more adult-friendly than others.

Evite made its name peddling online invitations, but has since become a go-to destination for online events. The company says it's seen a 1,130% increase in events tagged "virtual party" in the last year ... but it believes the lion's share of the boost has come in the last month.

We're told their biggest categories of online get-togethers of late include birthdays, cocktail parties and happy hours -- with average group sizes between 15 to 20.

Paperless Post -- another event planning company -- says in the past 12 days, virtual party events have jumped to 48% of their total biz. It used to be less than 1% ... so that's a clear quarantine-related shift.

As a result, PP's shifted to offer way more online invitation options -- for kids' birthday parties, game nights, book clubs, dance parties, brunch ... all the party possibilities.

Pretty amazing how quickly society adjusted. We've heard of workout groups, baby showers and even charity galas ... all moving to the online realm.

As you'd expect, in-person event planning is down, but not dead. We're told traditional invites for big stuff, mostly weddings, are still ordered -- but by and large event planners are marketing for online biz now.

Evolve or die.

Folks across the country are learning a new skill during the coronavirus pandemic ... how to cut hair from the comfort of their own home.

With barber shops and salons shuttering because of the outbreak, more and more people are boning up on hair styling, and they're buying clippers ... according to the company that invented the first electric hair clipper over a century ago.

Honchos at Wahl, which invented the electric clipper back in 1919, tell TMZ ... they've already sold out of their top-selling clippers on Amazon, and their own online shop is about to be cleaned out.

But, clippers are no good unless you know how to handle them, and Wahl says their website is being flooded with visitors to their men's haircut tutorials. We're told people are reading how to do fades, tousled cuts, brush cuts, easy cuts and business hair cuts.

Overall, Wahl says website traffic is up a whopping 287% over the same period last year ... and search traffic is up double-digits in nearly all 50 states, led by New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut, Washington and West Virginia.

Remember, Supercuts took a huge hit at the start of the outbreak ... and now folks are channeling their inner Edward Scissorhands.

With grocery stores under siege by desperate shoppers, meal prep companies are coming up big ... mostly 'cause health freaks refuse to give up their diets.

TMZ spoke with several different meal delivery companies in California and beyond, and they all pretty much told us the same thing ... business has been BOOMING these past few weeks, with drastic changes in their subscriber base -- and lots of returning customers too.

Take Nutrifit, for example -- which has been operating for 30-plus years. They say they've actually seen a significant uptick in both new and old customers alike over the past week -- with a 15% increase in both categories. For the oldies coming back, we're told some folks are coming out of the woodwork from decades ago ... and they think it's due to coronavirus. Makes sense, especially since their family serving plans are up 25% too.

As far as what most people are hitting them up for ... Nutrifit says it's by and large health and organic food. We're told their most popular a la carte items of late are mahi-mahi and salmon, Mexican turkey lasagna, organic chicken paprikash and of course, vegan chili. Mmm

Nutrifit says its meals are tailored for the health-conscious, so they attribute the rise in business to people realizing that and wanting to stay on track with their regiments. They've also been asked about cleanliness, and Nutrifit assures us anyone who might come into contact with a customer's food is using gloves and social distancing when necessary.

A similar trend has been happening for other meal prep companies as well, like Fitness Kitchen L.A. and California Chef ... only their numbers are even crazier. FKLA's new orders this week have jumped by over 63%, and CC's new subscriptions are up by a whopping 80%!

Both orgs tell us their customer base has expressed interest in maintaining their lean lifestyle ... and apparently, some customers are even getting their older parents involved too to keep them out of grocery stores and away from potentially infected food runners.

We're guessing there are plenty of people out there who just want some comfort food ... and can't blame them.

James Gunn is wiping his butt with Michael Rooker's face ... literally.

The "Guardians of The Galaxy" director says the nationwide scramble for toilet paper due to the coronavirus pandemic has forced him to go deep into his reserve stash ... and he's finally using some custom TP he originally got as a gag gift for his frenemy.

James says he bought a bunch of toilet paper rolls with Michael's face on them as a joke a couple Christmases ago, and even though he put them in all the bathrooms of his house, he never thought he'd see the day they would actually be put to use.

But, desperate times call for desperate measures.

As you know ... James and Michael worked alongside each other during the 'Guardians' movies, and they often gave each other loads of crap, but in a fun kinda way.

Now, James is using Michael's mug to clean up his own crap. It's the circle of life, or something like that.