Clarkson trademarks his face to stop deepfake scams

What happened

Scammers used AI deepfake technology to replicate Jeremy Clarkson's face, name, image and voice in fraudulent advertisements promoting cryptocurrency and other products.

Clarkson's former Grand Tour co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond were also targeted in the same scam. Clarkson posted on X clarifying that he and May were not endorsing any cryptocurrency.

Reported impact

Clarkson announced he would trademark his face to prevent scammers from using his likeness in fraudulent content in the future.

Classification

Organization

Jeremy Clarkson (victim)

Category

Fraud, scams and manipulation

Industry

Media, social platforms and marketing

Country

United Kingdom

Harm status

Actual harm

Intent

Intentional

Timing

Unknown

Harm types

Economic or property, Reputational

Harmed

Consumers

Failure modes

Deepfake video, Deepfake image, Voice clone

Consequences

None recorded

AI systems

deepfake technology

Sources and evidence

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