UK Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis tops the list of NatWest's Celebrity Scam Super League, which ranks the the highest value cases in which a celebrity’s name or image has been used without their knowledge to lure consumers into making a fake investment.
The Martin Lewis scam tops the table, with one customer losing £150,000, more than double the amount stolen in scams involving Elon Musk, who ranks number two with £62,000 taken using his name, and Jennifer Aniston at number three with £58,000.
Lewis has spoken out about deep fake videos being used to impersonate him to give consumers false investment advice. The case that topped the NatWest table was a cryptocurrency investment scam, where a customer received a cold call from a fraudster pretending to be the Money Saving Expert after they looked up investment opportunities online.
Other celebrities appearing on the list include well-known film and television personalities, including Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, US reality TV star Dr Bradley Schaeffer, Jeremy Clarkson and actress Lauren Cohan from The Walking Dead.
Stuart Skinner, who leads the fraud prevention team at NatWest, says: “Criminals are increasingly using images of famous people who have been successful in business or are well known for giving advice on money to steal millions of pounds. Over one in ten consumers have lost money to fraudsters in the last 12months. We’d urge people to be wary of fake celebrity investment adverts or if contacted by someone saying they are a celebrity. A cross-industry effort with social media companies is required to eradicate this type of fraud.”