National Fraud Helpline has been highlighting the rising problem of deepfake AI scams.
Our client, John Cairns, was keen to help prevent others falling victim to similar frauds after he lost thousands of pounds when he was tricked by a fake Elon Musk investment video.
Mr Cairns, who lives in Huddersfield, was tricked into the scam after seeing a convincing video on Facebook purporting to be Musk, the world’s richest man, advising people to invest £250 in a new AI trading platform.
The investment scam led Mr Cairns to lose more than £3,000 at a time he was grieving for his late father.
We are currently helping to try to recover his money from the banks who we say have a duty of care to protect their customers from fraud.
Fiona Bresnen, a lawyer at National Fraud Helpline solicitors, said: ‘With the advancement of AI we are sadly seeing more of these type of deep-fake scams using well known figures.
‘The Elon Musk video is incredibly convincing and we understand that thousands of people have fallen victim to this particular scam.
‘It is becoming increasingly difficult for anyone to tell what investments are legitimate.
‘When it comes to investment opportunities our first piece of advice is always, if something looks too good to be true it probably is.’
Mr Cairns said that if he could get his money back, he said it would mean a lot.
“I would rather use the money investing through proper channels and with proper investigation, and have something nice to retire with,” he added.
He warned people against clicking links attached to faked Facebook videos with major global figures, including Richard Branson and Sir Keir Starmer, apparently promoting investment schemes as they could well be deepfake AI scams.
“Just don’t – completely ignore it,” he said. “It’s a shame because there are people that might have a wee bit of money and want to see if they can do better for themselves.
“In these times there are a lot of families out there who will try anything to try and make a decent life for themselves and their family. They might even use £250 from their benefits, thinking they can make £2,000 over a couple of months, and then get scammed out of it.”
“I was grieving for my dad, and they took advantage of that. I wasn’t thinking straight. I was wet behind the ears doing this, and I just wanted to dip my finger in the water with these investments and see how it would go. It ended up being a big dip in the water.”
Here are some of the publications that Mr Cairn’s story appeared:
Grieving man scammed out of thousands by fraudsters using deepfake of Elon Musk- Yorkshire Post
Grieving Son Scammed Out Of £3,250 By Ruthless AI Deepfake Of ‘Elon Musk’ In Investment Hoax– International Business Times
Man loses £3,250 after falling victim to deep fake Elon Musk scam on Facebook | News UK | Metro News
Have you lost money to a deepfake AI scam? Contact National Fraud Helpline. Call 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.