Yahoo Finance Martin Lewis, Currys and BBC impersonated in ‘epidemic’ of online scams
Scammers are falsely using Martin Lewis to endorse dodgy companies as social media platforms and search engines are still littered with scam ads.
Research by Which? found a dodgy advert on X (formerly Twitter) that led to a fake BBC website where the consumer champion’s name was being used by fraudsters to promote Quantum AI, a crypto get-rich-quick platform.
Beneath the advert was a note added by the platform with some context added by other site users, known as readers’ notes. It warned that: "This is yet another crypto scam using celebrities". Despite the warning the advert remained live.
Scam adverts using the identities of celebrities, despite them having nothing to do with the ads, continue to be rife among online platforms, Which? said.
However, it’s not just fraudulent celebrity endorsements that users need to be on the lookout for. Fraudulent advertising, copycats of major retail brands, investment scams and "recovery" scams, which target previous victims of scams, could all be found across Facebook (META), Instagram,TikTok, X and YouTube.
On YouTube and TikTok, Which? found sponsored videos in which individuals without Financial Conduct Authority authorisation gave often highly inappropriate investment advice. While these are not necessarily scam videos and would not come under the remit of the new laws, they are nonetheless extremely concerning and Which? has shared these examples with the platforms.
Read more: Best UK mortgage deals of the week
An advert impersonating electricals retailer Currys (CURY.L), appearing on both Facebook and Instagram, attempted to lure in victims by claiming to offer "90% off on a wide range of products". However, it went through to a completely different URL and was a scam to lure in shoppers.
On Meta’s ad library, Which? found Facebook and Instagram hosting multiple copycat adverts impersonating major retailers around the time of the Black Friday sales, including Currys and clothing brands River Island and Marks & Spencer (MKS.L). Each advert attempted to lure victims to bogus sites in a bid to extract their payment details.
Search engines Google (GOOG) and Bing were also littered with scam adverts, even though the Online Safety Act had received Royal Assent weeks earlier.
The Act does not officially come into force on scam adverts until after Ofcom finalises the codes of practice, which the regulator will use to set the standard platforms must meet.
Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said: “Most of the major social media platforms and search engines are still failing to protect their users from scam ads, despite forthcoming laws that will force them to tackle the problem.
“Ofcom must put a code of conduct in place that puts robust duties on platforms to detect and take down scams using the Online Safety Act. The government needs to make tackling fraud a national priority and appoint a fraud minister who can ensure there is a coordinated pushback against the epidemic of fraud gripping the UK.”
Read more: UK average house price rises by more than £3,000 in 2024
When researchers posed as drivers searching on Google for the “paybyphone app” to pay for parking, they were confronted with two adverts for impostor websites — onlytelephone.com and homeautomationinnovators.com — appearing at the top of search results and using PayByPhone’s logo without permission.
Both websites claimed to offer a “free download”, but included identical small print at the bottom of their websites revealing a monthly charge of £24.99. PayByPhone confirmed that the advertisers had nothing to do with the genuine parking app.
Which? said it was concerned that the findings suggested online platforms may not be taking scam adverts seriously enough.
It has called for a dedicated fraud minister to make the problem a “national priority”.
Microsoft (MSFT), the owner of Bing, and TikTok were the only platforms to tell Which? they had removed the scam or harmful content reported to them.
Facebook, Instagram and X did not report back to Which? on whether the adverts reported to them had been blocked or removed.
Google, also the parent company of YouTube, said: “Protecting users is our top priority and we have strict ads policies that govern the types of ads and advertisers we allow on our platforms. We enforce our policies vigorously, and if we find ads that are in violation, we remove them."
Watch: Martin Lewis issues urgent water bill warning
Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
