Scammers are falsely abusing Martin Lewis to promote shady businesses as social media platforms and search engines are still littered with fraudulent ads.
Research by Which? found a dodgy advert on X (formerly Twitter) that led to a fake BBC website where the consumer advocate’s name was used by scammers to promote Quantum AI, a get-rich-quick crypto platform.
Below the ad was a note from the platform with some information added by other site users, known as reader notes, warning: “This is another crypto scam using celebrities.” Despite the warning, the ad remained active.
According to Which?, fraudulent ads that use the identities of celebrities, even though they have nothing to do with the adverts, remain widespread on online platforms.
However, it is not just fraudulent celebrity endorsements that users need to be wary of. Fraudulent advertisements, copycats of major retail brands, investment scams, and “recovery” scams targeting former fraud victims can be found on Facebook (META), Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube.
On YouTube and TikTok, Which? found sponsored videos in which people were giving investment advice, often highly inappropriate, without the authorisation of the Financial Conduct Authority. While these are not necessarily scam videos and would not fall under the new laws, they are still extremely concerning and Which? has shared these examples with the platforms.
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An ad impersonating electrical retailer Currys (CURY.L) and appearing on both Facebook and Instagram attempted to lure victims with the promise of offering “90% off a wide range of products”. However, the ad led to a completely different URL and was a scam designed to lure shoppers.
In Meta’s ad library, Which? found that Facebook and Instagram hosted several impersonated ads from major retailers around the Black Friday sale, including Currys and clothing brands River Island and Marks & Spencer (MKS.L). Each ad attempted to lure victims to fake websites to steal their payment details.
The search engines Google (GOOG) and Bing were also riddled with fraudulent ads, even though the Online Safety Act had received Royal Assent weeks earlier.
The fraudulent advertising law will not officially come into force until Ofcom has finalised the codes of practice, which the regulator uses to set out the standards that platforms must meet.
Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which?, said: “Most major social media platforms and search engines are still failing to protect their users from fraudulent ads, despite laws coming into force soon that will force them to tackle the problem.”
“Ofcom must introduce a code of practice that imposes strict obligations on platforms to detect and stop fraud under the Online Safety Act. The Government must make tackling fraud a national priority and appoint a Fraud Minister who can ensure there is a coordinated response to the fraud epidemic that has gripped the UK.”
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When researchers posed as drivers searching Google for the “Paybyphone app” to pay parking fees, they were confronted with two ads from scam websites – onlytelephone.com and homeautomationinnovators.com – that appeared at the top of the search results and used PayByPhone’s logo without permission.
Both sites claimed to offer a “free download” but contained identical details of a £24.99 monthly fee in the small print at the bottom of their websites. PayByPhone confirmed that the advertisers had nothing to do with the real parking app.
Which? expressed concern that the findings suggested that online platforms may not be taking fraudulent ads seriously enough.
She called for the creation of a dedicated fraud minister to make the problem a “national priority.”
Microsoft (MSFT), the owner of Bing, and TikTok were the only platforms that told Which? that they had removed the fraudulent or harmful content reported to them.
Facebook, Instagram and X have not informed Which? whether the ads reported to them have been blocked or removed.
Google, also YouTube’s parent company, said: “Protecting users is our top priority and we have strong ad policies that govern the types of ads and advertisers we allow on our platforms. We vigorously enforce our policies and when we find ads that violate them, we remove them.”
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