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Two men lost a combined £155,000 after falling for deepfake Martin Lewis investment scam videos on Facebook, with Meta facing a multi-billion pound group legal action for allegedly enabling fraudulent advertisements on its platforms.
In 2020 and 2025, multiple victims were defrauded through deepfake AI-generated videos featuring Martin Lewis that appeared as advertisements on Facebook, promoting fake cryptocurrency and foreign exchange investment opportunities. Wayne Luxon from Taunton lost £140,000 after seeing a deepfake Martin Lewis video in 2020 claiming he could earn income by investing £250 in cryptocurrency. After his initial investment doubled and he successfully withdrew £500, he invested an additional £16,000 from his savings. When his fictitious account showed £800,000 and he attempted to withdraw funds, he was asked to pay tax and took out personal loans totaling over £100,000, only to see his account balance drop to zero. Jakub Siwiak from Worksop lost nearly £15,000 in June 2025 after responding to a Facebook advertisement promising foreign exchange returns, where a criminal impersonating a real broker coached him through fake investments. Facebook's tracking algorithms reportedly inundated users' feeds with money-making advertisements after they showed interest in investments. Law firms Humphries Kerstetter and Richardson Hartley Law are launching a multi-billion pound group legal action against Meta, with initial findings showing average losses of £37,000 per victim. Meta reported removing 159 million scam advertisements in the previous year, with 92% removed before being reported, and stated that advertisers promoting financial products in the UK must demonstrate appropriate Financial Conduct Authority authorization.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to gain a personal advantage over others such as through cheating, fraud, scams, blackmail or targeted manipulation of beliefs or behavior. Examples include AI-facilitated plagiarism for research or education, impersonating a trusted or fake individual for illegitimate financial benefit, or creating humiliating or sexual imagery.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed
