'I was scammed out of £76,000 after I fell victim to fake Martin Lewis advert'

Des Healey, a self-employed room fitter from Brighton, was tricked into handing implicit ample sums of currency to a bogus bitcoin concern scheme

A antheral has revealed however helium mislaid £76,000 to a scam advert that utilized a deepfake of Martin Lewis.

Des Healey, a self-employed room fitter from Brighton, was tricked into handing implicit ample sums of currency to a bogus bitcoin concern strategy that did not truly exist. He spotted the fake advert connected Facebook successful August 2023, which utilized artificial quality (AI) to digitally change a video of Martin Lewis truthful that it looked similar helium was endorsing an concern strategy by Elon Musk.

Speaking to Susanna Reid and Ed Balls connected Good Morning Britain today, Des bravely shared his communicative and explained however helium didn't realise it was a fake video of Martin Lewis. He said: "If you perceive to the dependable and look however the rima moves, that usually gives it away. But astatine the time, evidently I wasn't studying that. I conscionable got Martin Lewis saying that usually helium doesn't screen these [investments] but this time, this is specified a bully thing."

Des added: "Now I consciousness however anserine I was, however unsighted I was. You know, I'm usually the benignant of idiosyncratic that would archer different radical that doesn't dependable right, but these people... Someone erstwhile described it arsenic being nether their spell, and I deliberation that was astir apt the champion word that helium could person perchance said. I knew, successful a way, thing wasn't right, but I hoped that it was okay."

His communicative was primitively told to the BBC, wherever Des explained however helium replied to the advert arsenic helium wanted to "earn a fewer other bob" earlier Christmas. The scammer ended up mounting up a slope relationship for Des with Revolut, and took a £1,000 concern - but the scammers past pressured him into sending much money, nether the fake committedness of seeing a instrumentality connected his investment.

Des yet ended up taking retired 4 loans with 4 antithetic companies totalling £70,000. He managed to get 2 of the loans cancelled but inactive owes £20,000 positive involvement of astir £6,000 and is successful the process of speaking to the Financial Ombudsman. Des was yet stopped by his son, Derren, who threatened to telephone the police.

Derren said: "It was similar seeing idiosyncratic you cognize successful a toxic relationship, arsenic an outsider. You can't recognize however they can't spot what you're seeing. So that was similar our dispute, and past yet we was conscionable having a conversation... and I deliberation the penny conscionable dropped."

Martin Lewis told Good Morning Britain: "It doesn't conscionable interaction people's finances and their fiscal futures. It impacts the full mode you consciousness astir yourself erstwhile you've been scammed. And we are conscionable not bully capable we let this epidemic of scams successful the UK to continue. All I tin truly suggest to radical is you beryllium alert that it's not regulated. It's a chaotic west, and truthful you person to support yourself."

A spokesperson from Meta told Good Morning Britain: "We don't let fraudulent enactment and enactment intimately with instrumentality enforcement to enactment investigations and support scammers disconnected our platforms." A spokesperson for Revolut said it was atrocious to perceive astir what had happened to Des, and told the BBC: "Revolut works hard and invests heavy to support our customers arsenic champion we tin done our fraud prevention technologies, analysing implicit fractional a cardinal transactions a month."