Martin Lewis was desperate to get his point across during his latest appearance on This Morning. The Money Saving Expert founder regularly appears on the show to answer viewers' questions and give out all-important advice.
However, tempers flared as he joined Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on Wednesday's edition of the ITV daytime show. Holly, 41, began reading out a message from a viewer which started: "I've seen Martin Lewis championing Bitcoin purchases, but my concern is..."
Before the presenter could carry on reading the message from the viewer, named Sarah, Martin, who was appearing via video link from his home cut in shouting "no, no, no". But Holly told him: "Let me just read it and then you can clarify."
READ MORE: ITV Good Morning Britain's Laura Tobin red-faced as she clarifies accidental husband comment
She continued: "These are Bitcoin purchases asking for £2,000 to be transferred over and then be transferred back. Can you tell me if this is genuine?"
Given his chance to speak, Martin hit back: "It's a scam, it's a scam, it's absolutely a scam. I do not do any adverts." It is an issue the 49-year-old has long been complaining to change.
Late last year the consumer champion led a joint letter, signed by famous faces including Holly, Lorraine Kelly, and Robbie Williams, urging the Prime Minister to include paid scam adverts in the Online Safety Bill. At the time, paid scam advertising wasn't set to be part of the bill unlike user-generated scams and a wide range of areas such as terrorism and child sexual exploitation.
It was then confirmed in March that scam ads would be included in the Online Safety Bill. Continuing to speak on This Morning, Martin, who has previously sued Facebook for running scam adverts featuring his name and image, said: "Bitcoin is a speculative investment. I don't cover speculative investments so I don't talk about it.
"I'm not going to go into whether it's good or bad. That is a big debate that is out there. Some people love it, others say it's destabilising. I certainly wouldn't put any more money than you can afford to lose in there but it may well make a lot of money for you if it goes right."
"But none of this is about Bitcoin. The stuff on social media and the stuff you're emailed with my face on it - and often yours too Holly - telling you about some life-changing incredible that has revolutionised my life is actually lying, scamming thieves trying to steal your money.
"I do not appear in adverts. I do not try and pump investments. If you see those - even if there's a picture of me with quotes linking to what looks like a newspaper site - it's not real."
While it is a warning he has given before, he reiterated: "Do not give them your money and report them to the police. I've been campaigning on this for years but unfortunately, there's still a lot of people to get the message out to and these scammers are sophisticated and very clever."
Martin then went on to reveal the sad and shocking story of someone conned out of money because of a similar scam. "I know someone who is losing £200,000 and they're talking about taking their own life," he said. "These are scams. Do not give them your money. Report them to the police."
