Britain’s Natwest bank warned its customers on Wednesday of fraud using fake accounts of celebrities, such as billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, that have already cost their victims millions of pounds in total.
In the annual ranking, NatWest says: “He lost more than £285,000 after a customer responded to an advertisement featuring an interview with the star of the British TV show Peter Jones. Dragon’s Den.
Another scam victim lost nearly the same amount of money after falling for a scam using David Attenborough’s photo.
An ad featuring the famous naturalist ran text that misleadingly claimed that Mr Attenborough “earns £125,000 a month from stocks and gold-backed securities, natural gas and oil”, Natwest details.
“Criminals are using the images of some of the UK’s most respected celebrities” and in particular many personalities from the small screen to “steal millions of pounds”, says Natwest, which says it invests in prevention with its customers.
The majority of false advertisements appear in social networks, the bank determines.
Elon Musk, the owner of one of the major global social networks, Twitter, first saw his image transformed in a scam that cost the victim £42,500, notes NatWest.
Investment scams cost the UK £114.1m in 2022, down 34% year-on-year, according to UKFinance.
“Food trailblazer. Passionate troublemaker. Coffee fanatic. General analyst. Certified creator. Lifelong music expert. Alcohol specialist.”