Fake BBC News Investment Scam: How AI Deepfakes of Trusted UK Figures Are Being Used

A fake investment scheme is circulating that looks like a BBC News report and uses AI-generated images and video of people you trust — most often money-saving expert Martin Lewis, and sometimes Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. It is not real. There is no BBC report, no Question Time episode, and no investment.

The whole thing exists to move money out of your account and into a criminal's. This guide explains what the scam looks like, how it works, the red flags that give it away, and exactly what to do if you or someone you know has already paid in.

What is the fake BBC News investment scam?

It is a fake-investment scam built on three ingredients: a trusted broadcaster's branding, a familiar public face, and a promise of easy money.

The scam is designed to look like a genuine BBC News story, but it is not. It uses AI-generated images of a fake Martin Lewis alongside other recognisable people, and it references an episode of BBC Question Time that never happened. It claims a small upfront payment turns into a large guaranteed return — the version MoneySavingExpert (MSE) described promised roughly £200 turning into £30,000.

It is not a UK-only problem. MSE says the same scam runs worldwide, swapping in whichever famous face is most trusted locally. UK viewers have been shown adverts featuring Martin Lewis, and sometimes Nigel Farage or Piers Morgan instead. The premise is always the same: a secret, get-rich-quick scheme the public has supposedly been kept out of.

Separately, in June 2026, X users in the UK were repeatedly served fake AI adverts showing Nigel Farage and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey in staged confrontations on a set resembling BBC Question Time. The Bank of England said: "Unfortunately, fake adverts impersonating the Bank of England and other central banks are on the rise. These scams are designed to criminally exploit the public, especially the vulnerable, when they are online." BBC News found many of the links in those adverts led to sites promoting AI cryptocurrency trading schemes (see our guide to crypto & investment scams).

How the scam works, step by step

1. The advert

You see a promoted post on social media — X, Facebook, Instagram and Reddit have all been used. It is styled like breaking news, with a striking image of a well-known face and a caption such as "What's happened?". It may carry a fake "play" button to look like a video.

2. The fake article

Clicking through takes you to a page built to look like a BBC News article. It may even clone the look of the MoneySavingExpert site. The giveaway is the address bar: the domain is not bbc.co.uk, and it is not moneysavingexpert.com.

3. The invented story

The page describes a Question Time episode that never happened, and attributes a "secret" investment claim to the impersonated figure. This is the credibility trick: it borrows the trust of a real broadcaster and a real person.

4. The handover

You are pushed to sign up, to speak to a "personal account manager", or to download a trading app. In one documented variant, the fake page included a first-person story about handing card details to a "personal account manager" over the phone, to make the process feel normal.

5. The small win

You deposit a small amount and your "investment" appears to grow quickly. That figure is fabricated. In a documented Surrey case, a retired engineer started with £200, watched the balance climb, then deposited a further £5,000.

6. The block

When you try to withdraw, you cannot. You are told you must first pay a "liquidity" or "security" fee, which will "be refunded the next day". The Surrey victim paid £5,000, and was then told a further £10,000 was needed for "faster payments".

7. The loss

By the time the truth is clear, the money is gone. The Surrey victim lost £20,000 of his life savings. He described feeling "stupid" and "ashamed". He was neither. He was targeted by organised criminals using AI to look trustworthy — and that is exactly the reaction they rely on.

Red flags — how to spot it

• Check the URL. It looks like a BBC story, but the address is not www.bbc.co.uk. A few seconds in the address bar is often enough. See our phishing guide for how fake pages and links are used to harvest details.
• A famous face is promoting an investment. Martin Lewis never advertises and runs no investment scheme. Any advert or social clip suggesting otherwise is fake.
• Something is slightly off in the video. MSE notes deepfake videos can show unnatural speech, odd lip movements, or claims that sound out of character.
• Guaranteed or implausible returns. Turning £200 into £30,000 is not an investment; it is a promise no legitimate firm can make.
• Urgency and secrecy. Martin Lewis's own advice: "The more urgent and the less people you can tell — the more secret, the more likely it is to be a scam."
• Fees to release your own money. A "liquidity", "security" or "release" fee demanded before withdrawal is a fraud marker, full stop.
• The Bank of England says it will never: offer accounts, investments, cryptoassets or "guaranteed returns"; ask you to move money "for safety" or to "release funds"; or provide investment advice or endorsements. If it claims otherwise, it is not genuine.
• Verify independently. Before investing anything, check the firm on the FCA firm checker and the FCA Warning List. Search the scheme's name alongside the word "scam". If nothing independent confirms it, do not proceed.

Who is targeted

These scams are aimed at people with savings and pensions. City of London Police, the National Lead Force for Fraud, says older adults — particularly those over 60 — are the most likely to report investment fraud, "because they are more likely to have significant savings or pension pots invested".

Martin Lewis is the most impersonated public figure in these adverts, ahead of Taylor Swift and Elon Musk. In the 2024 data, 68% of cases using his identity targeted people aged 60 and over, with victim ages ranging from 31 to 93. In other words, this is not a niche problem for the unwary — it is a mass-market fraud aimed squarely at people who have spent decades building something worth stealing.

What it costs UK victims

These are the figures we can stand behind, each traced to a named source:

We do not publish losses we cannot source, and we do not inflate them. These numbers are bad enough without embellishment.

If you have already paid — what to do now

Act in this order. Speed matters, but do not panic.

1. Stop everything. Do not send more money, click more links, or reply to the scammer. Do not pay any "release" or "security" fee.
2. Call your bank immediately. Tell them you have been the victim of a scam and that you need to report a fraudulent payment. If you are unsure, hang up and dial 159 to be connected to your bank's fraud team safely — see our guide to checking whether a bank call is genuine.
3. Report the advert or post on the platform where you saw it.
4. Report to Report Fraud — the national service that replaced Action Fraud in December 2025 — at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040. Our Action Fraud & Report Fraud guide walks through it.
5. Keep the evidence. Screenshots of the advert and article, the URL, messages, call logs, and payment records. Do not delete anything.
6. Be wary of anyone who contacts you offering to get your money back. Criminals target previous victims with "recovery" scams — see crypto scam recovery. A legitimate recovery route will never ask you for an upfront release fee.

Falling for this does not make you foolish. As Martin Lewis puts it: "falling for scams does not make you a mug — makes you a victim, but it doesn't make you a mug." Start with our emergency "I've been scammed" triage guide and our bank & payment scams hub for payment and bank-fraud recovery steps.

Where to report it

• Your bank — dial 159 for a safe route to your bank's fraud team.
• Report Fraud — reportfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040 (fraud and financial loss).
• Suspicious emails — forward to [email protected] (National Cyber Security Centre Suspicious Email Reporting Service).
• Scam texts — forward to 7726 (free).
• Fake websites, including cloned news pages — report via the NCSC's "Report a suspicious website" form.
• Fraudulent adverts — report to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
• Firms and potential scams — the FCA on 0800 111 6768; check the FCA Warning List before investing.
• In Scotland — report fraud to Police Scotland on 101.

Frequently asked questions

Is the BBC Question Time episode involving Martin Lewis real?
No. The episode does not exist. The scam uses AI-generated images and references a fake Question Time episode to borrow BBC credibility.

Does Martin Lewis ever promote investments?
No. Martin Lewis does not advertise and does not endorse any product or investment. Any advert suggesting otherwise is a scam.

Does the Bank of England endorse investments?
No. The Bank and its staff do not endorse or advertise any products, will never offer "guaranteed returns", and will never ask you to move money to "release funds".

I paid money — is it too late?
No. Contact your bank immediately (dial 159) and report to Report Fraud. Recovery depends on how quickly you act and on how the payment was made.

How do I report a fake BBC News page?
Report it to the NCSC via "Report a suspicious website", report the advert to the platform and the ASA, and report any financial loss to Report Fraud.