'I lost £150,000 in fake Rod Stewart scam using AI trick that would fool anyone'

An ITV Tonight investigation hosted by Alex Beresford lifts the lid on how scammers are using deep fake technology to dupe people out of their money - and how you can protect yourself

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We've all stumbled across clips where renowned figures endorse some wonder product or offer sage financial counsel.

These videos saturate social media, from Ben Fogle supposedly sharing a "secret" wealth-building strategy on This Morning to finance guru Martin Lewis touting a can't-miss opportunity with a novel cryptocurrency.

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Most of us gloss over these posts unaware that they're actually sophisticated AI-generated scams, creations the celebrities have nothing to do with. Yet there are those who give these claims their attention - and consequently find themselves deceived out of substantial sums.

With such convincing fakes proliferating by the millions online, fraudsters are exploiting society's trust in familiar faces and institutions to pry away personal details or finances.

Alarmingly, a mere tenth of UK adults feel assured of their ability to discern authentic content from impostures, a confusion that results in a rising tide of individuals being swindled. Impressions masquerading as Martin Lewis have already gleaned an estimated £20 million, leaving victims in dire straits, reports the Mirror.

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Speaking to Alex Beresford - whose own identity has been used by scammers - in a new Tonight investigation on ITV tonight, the Money Saving Expert founder says he has been horrified to hear victims' stories.

He warns: "The most common scams with me in tend to be about Bitcoin trade or something similar, but these are just criminals trying to steal your money. I always remember the story of one woman whose children had died and she was looking after the grandchildren, and she then invested the children's money in a scam because of me, because she trusted me.

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"My whole work and mission is to help consumers improve their finances, to try to prevent financial injustice. To have that perverted, to be used by criminals to take advantage of my reputation is horrendous."

Marcus Beard, founder of Fenimore Harper, a company that tracks counterfeit content on social media, points out that artificial intelligence is enabling fraudsters to inundate the internet with bogus videos that are becoming increasingly hard to identify.

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"They don't even create them manually, due to the deep fake technology," he explains. "They can give it a few instructions about the kind of people they're targeting, the celebrities they want to use, drop a couple of videos in there, and while they sleep, hundreds of fake adverts can be generated."

He criticises social media platforms for not doing enough to tackle the issue, pointing out: "We did a piece of research about the then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. There were over 100 ads being published within a month, and Facebook let these all through and a lot of them appeared to have found actual victims. After the election, we looked at Keir Starmer, and there were more faked adverts of him than there were authentic ones."

Scammers have even manipulated a video of the PM, making it seem as though he's promoting an AI crypto trading opportunity, using phrases that echo his usual rhetoric.

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Marcus explains: "You have this sort of sandwich effect, bit of real information there, a bit of false information there to really try and sell this lie. It's really dangerous."

As deep fake scams become more prevalent, soap stars are increasingly being impersonated online. Both Coronation Street and Emmerdale have taken measures by engaging an external firm to assist in identifying and shutting down fraudulent accounts.

Lisa Riley, known for her role as Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale, has also issued a caution to her followers regarding a bogus advert claiming she endorsed a 'no-gym pill' for weight loss.

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Lisa, speaking on the Tonight programme, revealed a deceptive truth behind two photos of her used by scammers. The images, displaying her with differing body weights, are indeed genuine; however, their chronological order was inversed by the fraudsters, who also digitally inserted a brand next to her, creating the false impression that she endorses a weight loss product she never actually used.

Lisa expressed her concerns, saying: "This is me a few years ago when I had lost more weight. They've AI'd the brand next to me, as if that's me and I've purchased that.

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"And everybody fully believes that they're going to lose weight, but they're not. Because there is no such slimming pill at all. And I certainly didn't take any form of slimming pill. How can we stop this happening?".

Adding to the alarm, Dan Brocklebank, known for his role as Billy Mayhew in Coronation Street, describes similar misuse of his identity. Scammers have impersonated him on Instagram, luring fans into fraudulent relationships ultimately aimed at stealing considerable sums of money.

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Dan shared: "It's happened so many times on Instagram with people setting up what they call my personal account and they start to message people. People have been conned out of money, thousands and thousands of pounds."

In an effort to demonstrate the alarming simplicity of faking digital content, television presenter Alex consents to cybersecurity expert Jake Moore from ESET fabricating a video of him addressing his father.

Using footage sourced from YouTube and a predetermined script, Jake runs the material through his software, forging a video wherein Alex seems to be inviting his dad to participate in a new gameshow. His father, having received and watched the clip, is thoroughly tricked, believing it to be a genuine message from his son.

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Only upon Alex disclosing the reality does his father respond in disbelief: "Bloody hell, that's not you? That is scary," a testament to the convincing nature of the fabricated content.

The devastating impact of fraudulent schemes has transformed lives, as exemplified by the story of Wayne, an ex-British soldier who devoted himself to his family after his wife's breast cancer diagnosis. Without a regular income, Wayne was drawn to an online video that seemingly featured Rod Stewart promoting Bitcoin investment.

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Recalling the incident, he said: "I was just sitting there one day on my laptop and the advert came up. It wasn't a still photo, it was him talking. I thought, well, Rod Stewart's telling me it's a good venture, then why not go with it?".

Shortly after expressing interest online, Wayne received a call from a man who seemed genuinely concerned about his circumstances: "He sounded like a really nice chap and explained more about how it works. I told him all about my wife and my problems and he came across as so understanding. I really did believe that this man felt for me and wanted to help me."

Initially, Wayne invested £500, but as he witnessed apparent growth, he increased his investments to sums ranging from £10,000 to £20,000. In a tragic turn of events, the scammer exploited Wayne's vulnerability following his wife's death from cancer, coaxing him into committing even more funds.

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The harsh reality struck seven months later, as Wayne recounted: "I woke up one morning, looked at my account. And it was the worst thing, everything had gone. I was just sick, I felt sick to the core. You realise it's happened, and there's no coming back."

Wayne had suffered a staggering £150,000 loss. It wasn't until four years after this misfortune that he stumbled upon a law firm adept at aiding investment fraud casualties.

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By asserting his bank's negligence, Wayne achieved a complete reimbursement of his lost funds.

The urgency is growing for the government to more vigorously tackle the proliferation of fraudulent advertising. Marcus Beard insists that with the advent of AI technologies capable of detecting false advertisements, social media entities can no longer turn a blind eye to this issue.

Beard emphasises: "There is technology that wasn't there a year ago, that can identify deep fakes from a few seconds of that footage. And I think that a lot of these big platforms, in the political moment that we're in are figuring out where they sit on moderation and content. And in that gap, scams slip through."

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In response, an official government representative conveyed: "From this month, social media companies will take more responsibility for stopping fraud on their platforms. This includes proactively tackling false representations and scam adverts which accounts post directly and promote on users' feeds. We have also increased powers that banks have to investigate suspicious payments."

Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.

* Don’t miss "Celebrity Scams: Are You At Risk?" airing Thursday, March 12 on ITV1 at 8.30pm, for insight into the perils of fraudulent schemes.

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Here's how you can discern online scam adverts.

Bargain prices for expensive products or incredible returns on investments. If anything seems too good to be true it usually is, according to keepersecurity.com Language that’s designed to hurry you such as ‘last few remaining’ or ’only for 24 hours’ is also a sign of a fake, according to the government’s Stop! Think Fraud campaign. Low quality pictures, fuzzy logos, or obvious spelling or grammatical errors. Little to no engagement. If the ad has few likes, comments or shares it likely means a scammer has created a fake ad to trick you. No clear branding. If you see an advert for a legitimate company that doesn’t match their official colours and design, it is most likely fake, according to Stop! Think Fraud. Subtle imperfections in videos such as voices not matching up to the images or unnatural movements. But still be aware, deepfakes can still be difficult to spot with the human eye.

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