Deepfake scam used AI video of Martin Lewis to defraud man of £76,000
A kitchen fitter from Brighton was defrauded of £76,000 in a cryptocurrency investment scam after seeing a deepfaked video of financial expert Martin Lewis endorsing the scheme on Facebook. The victim, Des Healey, was manipulated into taking out loans after being initially lured by the fake advertisement and subsequent contact from scammers posing as financial advisers.
What happened
Des Healey, a kitchen fitter from Brighton, first became aware of the scam in August 2023 after spotting a fake advertisement on Facebook which used an AI-generated deepfake video of Martin Lewis appearing to endorse a cryptocurrency investment scheme by Elon Musk.
After responding to the advert, scammers contacted Des within 10 minutes and instructed him to set up an account with e-money firm Revolut and deposit an initial investment of £1,000, which soon escalated to £5,000. Des was told he could not withdraw anything until authorized, and continued to pump money into the bogus scheme by taking out four loans totalling £70,000, until his son Derren intervened and threatened to call the police.
Reported impact
Des lost his entire life savings of £5,000 plus an additional £70,000 in loans, totalling £76,000. Des still owes £20,000 of the loans plus almost £6,000 in interest.
Index analysis
Martin Lewis, the real-world financial expert whose deepfaked likeness was used, described himself as having the 'weird accolade' of being the most deepfaked man in Britain and warned after the incident that 'nobody is safe'.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.