- NatWest’s annual Celebrity Scam Super League table reveals the celebrities fraudsters are exploiting without their knowledge to steal millions of pounds
- Martin Lewis tops the list, closely followed by Elon Musk
- Jennifer Aniston and Lauren Cohan appear for the first-time
- Majority of celeb scam ads linked to cryptocurrency investments
Martin Lewis tops this year’s NatWest Celebrity Scam Super League, according to the annual rankings produced by NatWest based on the highest value cases in which a celebrity’s name or image has been used without their knowledge to lure consumers into making a fake investment.
The Martin Lewis scam tops the table, with one customer losing £150,000, more than double the amount stolen in scams involving Elon Musk, who ranks number two with £62,000 taken using his name, and Jennifer Aniston at number three with £58,000.
The value of the top celebrity scam has fallen substantially year-on-year from £337,000 in 2023 when an image of businessman Peter Jones was used in an investment scam. Peter doesn’t appear in the top seven this year, a sign that fraudsters are constantly adapting the celebrity images they steal.
In recent years there has been a move away from fraudsters using daytime television celebrities like Holly Willoughby who topped the list in 2021. However, celebrity images continue to be used by criminals on a regular basis and remain a significant problem. Scam ads often appear on social media, with Facebook and Twitter mentioned in many cases.
Martin Lewis has spoken out about deep fake videos being used to impersonate him to give consumers false investment advice. The Martin Lewis case that topped the table was a cryptocurrency investment scam, where a customer received a cold call from a fraudster pretending to be the Money Saving Expert after they looked up investment opportunities online.
Other celebrities appearing on the list include well-known film and television personalities, including Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, US reality TV star Dr Bradley Schaeffer, Jeremy Clarkson and actress Lauren Cohan from The Walking Dead.
Stuart Skinner, who leads the fraud prevention team at NatWest, said: “Criminals are increasingly using images of famous people who have been successful in business or are well known for giving advice on money to steal millions of pounds. Over one in ten[1] (13%) consumers have lost money to fraudsters in the last 12months. We’d urge people to be wary of fake celebrity investment adverts or if contacted by someone saying they are a celebrity. A cross-industry effort with social media companies is required to eradicate this type of fraud.”
Over £1.3bn was stolen from consumers through fraud in 2023, according to UK Finance. NatWest continues to invest in fraud prevention and raising awareness of scams, providing warnings online and in its mobile banking app encouraging customers to think carefully before making investments. It no longer allows transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges.
More information on how to avoid scams is available from www.NatWest.com or click here to find out more about investment fraud.
Celebrity Scam Super League
|
|
Celebrity |
Highest Value Case
|
1
|
Martin Lewis
|
£150,021
|
2
|
Elon Musk
|
£62,900
|
3
|
Jennifer Aniston
|
£58,188
|
4
|
Jimmy Page
|
£50,994
|
5
|
Dr Bradley Schaeffer
|
£48,511
|
6
|
Jeremy Clarkson
|
£47,501
|
7
|
Lauren Cohan
|
£46,100
|
For further information contact
Andrew Neilson, andrew.neilson@natwest.com, 0131 626 1839 / 0777 197 3550
[1] Study of 2,000 Brits by OnePoll commissioned on behalf of NatWest, September 2023
