Martin Lewis has warned of a ‘frightening’ new investment scam using a deepfake video of him.

The Money Saving Expert urged authorities to ‘step up’ and stop internet giants from publishing such content, saying people will lose money and ‘lives will be ruined’.

Highlighting the sophisticated new con on Twitter, he wrote: ‘This is a scam by criminals trying to steal money.

‘This is frightening, it’s the first deep fake video scam I’ve seen with me in it. Govt & regulators must step up to stop big tech publishing such dangerous fakes. People’ll lose money and it’ll ruin lives.’

WARNING. THIS IS A SCAM BY CRIMINALS TRYING TO STEAL MONEY. PLS SHARE.

This is frightening, it’s the first deep fake video scam I’ve seen with me in it. Govt & regulators must step up to stop big tech publishing such dangerous fakes. People’ll lose money and it’ll ruin lives. https://t.co/ZzaBELg1kg

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

The AI-generated clip of Mr Lewis purports to show him backing an investment scheme by the social media platform’s owner, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

In it, the deepfake consumer champion says: ‘Elon Musk presented his project in which he has already invested more than $3 billion.

‘Musk’s new project opens up great investment opportunities for British citizens. No project has ever given such opportunities to residents of the country.’

Discussing the scam on Good Morning Britain, he said: ‘This is going around on Facebook at the moment and this as far as I know is the first deepfake scam advert that we’ve seen – it’s certainly the first with me in.

‘It’s an absolutely terrifying development. This is still only early stages of the technology and they are only going to get better.

‘Within a year or two there will clearly be the interview that we’re doing now will be manipulated so that you will be asking questions and I would be answering questions about those fake adverts.

‘That’s the stage we’re in.’

Mr Lewis said he felt ‘viscerally angry’ that there is still ‘an absolute Wild West on social media and other big tech advertising platforms that allow scammers to get away with impunity’.

Martin Lewis issues urgent warning to anyone with £8,000 in savings

Police arrest mum in front of crying son 'for not paying for her bus ticket'

Gang who robbed Amir Khan's £72,000 watch outside restaurant are jailed

The founder of financial advice website MoneySavingExpert.com and host of The Martin Lewis Money Show Live on ITV, which sees him offer advice to members of the public on topics such as the cost-of living-crisis and rising household bills, sued Facebook for defamation back in 2019 after the social media site published scam ads featuring his image.

As part of an out of court settlement, Facebook pledged to create a reporting tool and donate £3 million to Citizens Advice for an anti-scam project.

He has long campaigned against bogus ads using his face to lure users and wants tech giants to be held responsible under new laws.

It’s6yrs since we started seeing mass proliferation of scam ads5yrs since I sued Facebook. 4yrs since they settled (for £3m to charity). 4yrs since the online harms white paper (still not law)18mth since they agreed to inc scams in it.1 day since first deep fake scam ad…

Speaking to MPs on the Draft Online Safety Bill Joint Committee in 2021, the consumer champion became visibly emotional as he described how lives were being ‘destroyed’ by fraudsters using his image in scam adverts online.

He detailed several scam victims, including a woman with cancer who lost thousands of pounds earmarked for her granddaughter’s wedding, after seeing an advert falsely claiming to be endorsed by him.

‘She said “It’s Martin sponsoring it, it must be all right”’,’ Mr Lewis said. ‘It was a scam, and she lost tens of thousands. She lost £15,000 trying to get back the money initially lost.’

MORE : Fiona Phillips’ This Morning boss husband Martin Frizell ‘felt sick’ after her Alzheimer’s diagnosis aged 61

MORE : Martin Lewis ‘disappointed’ in Coronation Street’s Roy Cropper as he makes huge change to prices

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Privacy Policy