Deepfake AI Videos of Financial Times Journalist Martin Wolf Used in Investment Scam
Deepfake videos of Financial Times journalist Martin Wolf were used in investment scams advertised on Meta platforms, reaching nearly one million users in the EU. The fraudulent ads invited people to join WhatsApp investment groups falsely attributed to Wolf, and multiple ads continued appearing despite removal attempts by Meta.
What happened
On March 11, 2025, Martin Wolf, an economics commentator at the Financial Times, was notified of deepfake videos impersonating him on Instagram and Facebook advertisements. The deepfakes showed Wolf appearing to give investment advice and inviting users to join a WhatsApp group allegedly run by him.
After Wolf and his colleagues notified Meta about the fraudulent content, the company removed several advertisements. However, further investigation using Meta's Ad Library revealed at least three different deepfake videos and multiple Photoshopped images running in over 1,700 advertisements with slight variations across Facebook and Instagram, purchased by ten fake accounts.
Reported impact
The advertisements reached over 970,000 users in the European Union alone by late April 2025, with approximately 960,000 of those impressions occurring after the Financial Times first notified Meta about the deepfakes.
Index analysis
The deepfake videos featured a convincing visual likeness of Wolf, though the voice did not fully match his own. The scam exploited Wolf's name, reputation, and the Financial Times brand to lure people into fraudulent investment schemes.
Governance controls
Meta has implemented a facial recognition system to identify and remove such scams. However, the widespread reach of the advertisements before removal and the continued emergence of new fake accounts created a situation Wolf described as "whack-a-mole."
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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