NatWest has issued a warning as customers were scammed out of millions.
The bank has urged people to be vigilant of fraudulent adverts as figures showed customers lost £114.1m last year in investment scams. Fraudsters use the image of trusted celebrities to lure consumers into making bogus investments.
The bank warned the majority of scam ads appear on social media and urged people to be careful when using the platforms. Stuart Skinner, NatWest scam expert said: “Criminals are using some of the UK’s most trusted and respected celebrity images to steal millions of pounds.
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"I’d urge you to be extremely cautious of fake celebrity investment adverts seen online. A cross industry effort with social media companies is required to stop this crime.”
The bank has released the NatWest Celebrity Scam Super League, which comprises of the seven famous faces most exploited for scams. Peter Jones tops the list as over £285,000 was lost after a customer responded to a promotional article featuring an interview with the Dragon’s Den star, which looked like a genuine newspaper article.
Sir David Attenborough features at number two on the list as a customer lost £275,000 after seeing an advertisement on Twitter. The advert featured an image of the national treasure alongside text falsely claiming he makes £125,000 per month from stocks and shares related to gold, natural gas and oil.
Other celebrities appearing on the list include well-known business leaders and TV personalities such as Piers Morgan, Jeff Bezos Martin Lewis, Elon Musk and Bradley Walsh.
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