Martin Lewis has warned of the increasing complexity of online scams after a fake interview with Rachel Reeves was used to trick people into giving over their bank details.
The Money Saving Expert founder said a “wild west” situation has emerged with social media users duped by a convincing-looking but bogus BBC News article.
According to the Guardian, the article was headed, “By order of Rachel Reeves, UK residents will start receiving income from taxes”.
The article then contained a write-up that stated anyone could receive £2,300 in payouts if they applied early. A form then appeared to purportedly allow people to claim this.
The scam follows an example of Rishi Sunak being imitated and another of Mr Lewis himself being replicated by AI.
He told the Guardian: “Just like normal online marketing agencies, what they do is they utilise whatever will get them the most clicks and most people through to their nefarious aims.
“They are constantly trying other iterations, just like any other marketing firm would do to try and reach more people.
“We saw them use Rishi Sunak. Now we’re seeing Rachel Reeves in one of those scams. Their thinking is: ‘Do we think she’ll do any business? Let’s put her out there and see.’”
Mr Lewis has called on the government to give Ofcom greater powers to tackle online scams with the Online Safety Act not coming into effect until 2026.
He added: “As we’re still not going to have any regulation on scams online until the middle of 2026, we still live in a wild west and people are still incredibly at risk from these criminals.”
The Online Safety Act was passed last year to require social media platforms to prevent and rapidly remove illegal content – such as terrorism and revenge pornography.
It will stop children from seeing harmful material such as bullying or self-harm content by enforcing age limits and using age-checking measures.
The rules also require sites to give adults more control over what they see online, offer clear and accessible ways for users to report problems and be transparent about the dangers.
Those that fail to comply will face fines of up to £18 million or 10 per cent of annual global revenue.
In response to the Guardian’s article, a government spokesperson said: “Fraud is a pernicious crime, and we are determined to bring fraudsters to justice.
“In this case, this scam advert was flagged by ASA’s scam ad alert system, and we are pleased it has since been taken down.
“We urge the public to find out more about staying safe from fraud, including how to stop fake online adverts, by visiting the government’s Stop! Think Fraud website.”
