Consumer guru Martin Lewis has urged fans not to be fooled by a new AI scam video.
Footage was manipulated and posted online suggesting the Money Saving Expert website founder would offer stock market tips each day in a WhatsApp group.
He has now hit back by highlighting the clip while branding it a ‘scam’.
Lewis, 53, a presenter on ITV‘s Good Morning Britain as well as hosting his own evening show on the channel, shared the video with a warning to his 3.1million followers on X, formerly Twitter.
The original post included a mocked-up video of Lewis appearing to talk about US President Donald Trump‘s newly announced tariffs.
The finance expert also appeared to be announcing a new WhatsApp group in which he would share ‘quality stock’ investment recommendations each day.
But the real Martin Lewis, 53, from Manchester, has now repudiated the video after it was drawn to his attention.
He added the strident advice: ‘PLEASE KEEP YOUR EYE OUT FOR THIS SCAM DEEP FAKE AI VIDEO!
Consumer guru Martin Lewis has urged fans not to be fooled by a new AI scam video
He shared a post on X, formerly Twitter, which drew attention to the manipulated footage
‘If you see it please a) Report it to the platform as a scam b) Post a reply to it to warn others off it and ensure they know it is criminals trying to steal their money and nothing to do with me.’
He followed up by urging his fans not to turn on the person whose tweet he shared.
Lewis commented: ‘PS Pls don’t berate this poster, he ISN’T the scammer, this was his jokey way of reporting it to me!’
This is not the first time Lewis has been misused by AI scammers.
Research revealed in March which celebrities are most commonly used by fraudsters to con unsuspecting Britons out of their life savings – with Lewis, described as one of television’s most trusted figures, topping the list.
An episode of ITV’s Tonight investigated the rise of celebrity scammers using sophisticated artificial intelligence technology to dupe victims into paying them hundreds of thousands of pounds by impersonating Hollywood actors, musicians, politicians, and even sports stars.
Earlier this year, for instance, it was reported that one such scammer had tricked a French woman into believing she was dating Brad Pitt, before persuading her to part with almost £700,000 for the film star’s cancer treatment using ‘deep fake’ images and videos.
Other famous faces that have been similarly exploited include Taylor Swift, Elon Musk, Adele, Johnny Depp, Jeremy Clarkson, Keanu Reeves, and King Charles
Martin Lewis presents his own consumer finance advice show on ITV
Analysis of data from Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, found Martin Lewis was most commonly featured in scam adverts – featuring in 1,151 scams in 2022 and 2023.
It was revealed that £20 million has been lost to scams featuring fake videos and images of the Money Saving Expert, who hit out at the ‘horrendous’ and ‘perverted’ exploitation of his reputation.
Speaking to Tonight, he said: ‘My whole work and mission is to help consumers improve their finances, to prevent financial injustice.
‘To have that perverted, to be used by criminals, to take advantage of my reputation is horrendous.’
In 2023, he had warned Britons that scammers were using deepfake footage of him to try to con them into losing money.
A deepfake is a video of a person in which their face or body has been digitally altered so that they appear to be someone else, typically used maliciously or to spread false information.
Mr Lewis branded the scam ‘frightening’ and warned it would ‘ruin lives,’ calling on the Government and regulators to put a stop to it after a deepfake video of him emerged seemingly ‘endorsing an investment scheme from Elon Musk’.
Such celebrity scams are booming in the UK as con artists posing as Tom Jones and Celine Dion duped pensioners in neighbouring villages last year into sending them thousands of pounds.
The consumer guru has posted a new message on social media warning people about the clip
Elderly pensioners were targeted as part of the fake celebrity ruse, with one woman in her 90s from Milford on Sea handing over £13,000 to a conman pretending to be Welsh singer Tom Jones.
The fake singers duped residents in villages across Hampshire’s New Forest after contacting them on Facebook, promising them a car or telling them they had been robbed.
In return, they were told to pay costs and taxes in the form of gift cards.
Meanwhile, a man in his 60s from nearby Lymington was tricked by a dummy Dion.
He was told the Canadian singer had been robbed and persuaded him to pay £910 in money and gift cards.
