British money saving expert Martin Lewis topped NatWest Bank's Super League list of celebrity scams, which ranks the most expensive cases in which celebrities' names and images are used without their consent to lure consumers into fake investments.
The Martin Lewis scam topped the list with one customer losing £150,000 – more than double the amount stolen from the scam involving Elon Musk, with £62,000 stolen using Musk's name in second place and the scam involving Jennifer Aniston coming in third with £58,000 stolen.
Lewis has said deepfake videos are being used to impersonate him and give false investment advice to consumers. NatWest Bank's top case is a cryptocurrency investment scam, in which customers researched investment opportunities online and then suddenly received phone calls from scammers posing as money saving experts.
Other celebrities on the list include well-known film and TV personalities such as Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, US reality TV star Dr Bradley Schafer, Jeremy Clarkson and The Walking Dead actress Lauren Cohan.
Stuart Skinner, head of NatWest Bank's fraud prevention team, said: “Criminals are increasingly using images of famous people who are successful in business or famous for their financial advice to steal millions of pounds. More than one in ten consumers have had their money stolen by scammers in the last 12 months. We urge people to be wary of fake celebrity investment adverts or if they are contacted by someone claiming to be a celebrity. A cross-industry effort with social media companies is needed to root out these types of scams.”
