Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones and national treasure Sir David Attenborough are among the top names featured in NatWest’s report on celebrity scam ads, which fraudsters exploit to defraud consumers of millions of pounds.
The report highlights the highest-value cases where celebrity images have been used to entice individuals into making fraudulent investments. One notable incident involved a consumer who lost over £285,000 after responding to a promotional piece that appeared to showcase a legitimate interview with Peter Jones.
Sir David Attenborough ranks second on the list, with a customer losing £275,000 after being deceived by a Twitter advertisement that falsely claimed he earned £125,000 per month from investments related to gold, natural gas, and oil.
Most of the scam ads are prevalent on social media platforms, with Facebook and Twitter appearing in the top seven cases of what is termed the Scam Super League. Notably, an ad featuring Twitter owner Elon Musk resulted in a loss of £42,500 for one victim.
The report also includes other well-known figures such as Piers Morgan, Jeff Bezos, Martin Lewis, and Bradley Walsh. Despite Martin Lewis’s ongoing public statements against endorsing such investments, he remains a frequent target in high-value scams and has dropped to fifth place this year.
According to UK Finance, investment scams resulted in a total loss of £114.1 million for consumers in 2022, a 17% decrease from the previous year.
Stuart Skinner, a Scam Expert at NatWest, warns: “Criminals are exploiting some of the UK’s most trusted and respected celebrities to steal millions. I urge everyone to be extremely cautious of celebrity investment adverts encountered online. A collaborative effort across the industry is crucial to eliminating these ads from social media.”