Martin Lewis did not hold back on This Morning today as he spoke out about the growing threat of deepfake scam adverts.
The money-saving expert, 54, appeared on Tuesday’s edition of the daytime show. It was for the This Morning View segment.
Joining hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard alongside fellow guest Nick Ferrari, Martin discussed the damage being caused by AI-generated scams. Shockingly, he revealed he has featured in 44 per cent of all scam adverts.
Martin Lewis hits out at ‘deepfakes’ on This Morning
The panel were discussing deepfakes following a recent AI-generated clip shared on X. The video appeared to show a fake altercation between Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey on BBC Question Time.
The conversation prompted Martin to reflect on his own experience.
He said: “Meta it is reported to have made three billion pounds from European scam ads in a year alone.
“I sued Facebook in 2019, I settled for three million pounds to go towards setting up a new anti-scam charity and a tool to report scam ads that I thought that would work. It hasn’t worked.”
Meanwhile, he continued: “I campaigned and led the campaign to get scam adverts in the Online Safety Act, which we got three years ago.”
Martin slams government over scam ads
Growing increasingly emotional, Martin then turned his attention to the government’s response.
He ranted: “They have fundamentally ignored scam adverts. The enormous damage that it does, not just to peoples finances, it is damaging peoples mental health and self-esteem and it’s incredibly destructive.”
In addition, Martin also revealed details of a letter he had received from a 78-year-old. They had fallen victim to a deepfake AI video scam featuring him on social media.
According to Martin, the individual handed over money in the hope of securing their own flat. Tragically, they ended up losing their life savings.
Martin raged: “That is what brought me to tears. I fundamentally wish I could tell you that that was a terrible shocking one off and not a daily, DAILY occurrence. This has been going on 10 years. It’s destroying people’s lives.
“The Online Safety Act was meant to change three years. They haven’t even done the consultation on implementation, which means even if they started it tomorrow, they wouldn’t have the rules in place until 2027, leaving more people to be victims.”
‘It’s a disgrace’
Martin’s frustration continued as he called for politicians to tackle the issue more aggressively.
Meanwhile, he added: “When the Prime Minister talked about the nidification of AI said if these companies profit from harm and abuse they don’t deserve to self-regulate.
“Well for 10 years they have been making billions of pounds for genuine harm and abuse over scam adverts. Nothing has been done.
“It is a disgrace. I urge the politicians of every party to change this.”
After that, ending with a passionate plea, Martin said politicians “should hang their heads in shame” over the number of victims affected by scam adverts. He insisted stronger action is long overdue.
Finally, Martin concluded: “They should hang their heads in shame that they have ignored hundred of thousands and millions of victims whose lives are destroyed because they are scared of big tech. It’s about time they got some balls.”
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