I lost £75,000 to Martin Lewis deepfake scam after trying to earn few extra bob

A scam victim who lost a staggering £75k to a Martin Lewis scam has warned people must be on "red alert". The man, who fell victim to a con when fraudsters used Mr Lewis' face to swindle him, has appeared on BBC The Martin Lewis Podcast this week.

Des Healey was tricked into handing over large sums of cash to a bogus bitcoin investment scheme that did not really exist. He spotted the fake advert on Facebook in August 2023, which used artificial intelligence (AI) to digitally alter a video of Martin Lewis so that it looked like he was endorsing an investment scheme by Elon Musk.

Speaking to Susanna Reid and Ed Balls on ITV Good Morning Britain today, Des said: "If you listen to the voice and look how the mouth moves, that normally gives it away. But at the time, obviously I wasn't studying that. I just got Martin Lewis saying that normally he doesn't cover these [investments] but this time, this is such a good thing."

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Des added: "Now I feel how stupid I was, how blind I was. You know, I'm normally the type of person that would tell other people that doesn't sound right, but these people... Someone once described it as being under their spell, and I think that was probably the best term that he could have possibly said. I knew, in a way, something wasn't right, but I hoped that it was okay."

Des explained how he replied to the advert as he wanted to "earn a few extra bob" before Christmas. But he ended up investing taking out four loans totalling £70,000 in order to keep investing in the scheme and still owes around £20,000 following the ordeal.

His son, Derren, said: "It was like seeing someone you know in a toxic relationship, as an outsider. You can't understand how they can't see what you're seeing. So that was like our dispute, and then eventually we was just having a conversation... and I think the penny just dropped."

Martin commented: "It doesn't just impact people's finances and their financial futures. It impacts the entire way you feel about yourself when you've been scammed. And we are just not good enough we allow this epidemic of scams in the UK to continue. All I can really suggest to people is you be aware that it's not regulated. It's a wild west, and therefore you have to protect yourself."