Phillip Schofield has found himself at the centre of an online scam which very nearly saw two of his friends lose hundreds of pounds to fraudsters.
At the start of a new week on This Morning, Phillip was once again joined by co-host Holly Willoughby to front the live episode, which saw them joined by expert Alexis Conran to discuss the rise in fake celebrity endorsements, which have been created by criminals to con people out of large amounts of money.
As Phillip and Holly sought advice on behalf of viewers on what they should be looking out for to spot a fake and how they can protect themselves online, Alexis used an example actually involving Phillip. A web page appeared on screen with Phillip's face on, along with the headline 'Bank of England sues Phillip Schofield for what he said on live TV.'
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The article, made to look like a genuine story from The Guardian used made up quotes of something that Phillip was reported to have said on The Graham Norton Show about not having to work to be rich. Phillip was quick to point out that, as well as the article being completely fake, he has never actually been a guest on Graham Norton at all.
However, Phillip then shared with Alexis and Holly that two family friends were very nearly taken in by the scam, centered around crypto currency, explaining: "We had two friends of the family; one who emailed me, one that spoke to my mum. Both said 'Ooh I just want to check, I'm about to send my £250 off, I just wanted to make sure this was OK.'
"My mum said 'Don't be so stupid, it's a scam' and I said 'Absolutely, no way. It's a scam, I would absolutely not do that!"
Other celebrities who've seen their image used for fake scams include Martin Lewis, who had Facebook take action to remove the incriminating post and The Saturdays star Una Healy, who's had a fake Instagram account set up in her name in a bid to dupe fans.
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