Retired NHS doctor and others conned into investing – only to sink larger sums in trying to get cash back

• Revealed: the scammers who conned savers out of $35m
• How call centre scammers duped 6,000 people

A “sprat to catch a mackerel” is how one victim describes being reeled in by the skameri working from call centres hundreds of miles away in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. It is the local term for scammers and a huge data leak reveals the inner workings of a fraud network that has tricked Britons out of £9m.

Like in any call centre, the script is always the same. For the victim it starts by clicking on a (fake) social media ad or news alert. The promotion tips a great crypto investment but it’s a trick, leading only to fraudsters impersonating a real business.

Nursing home resident and pensioners among thousands of victims of massive fraud network operating from Georgia

• Revealed: the scammers who conned savers out of $35m
• What is investment fraud and what help is there?

Ben Fogle was not a happy man.

“Not sure I need to highlight this,” the broadcaster posted on Instagram during the spring of 2024, “but the deepfake of me from [ITV’s] This Morning … circulating on Facebook [and] advertising crypto is a scam.”

Georgia-based group used deepfake videos and false news featuring Martin Lewis, Zoe Ball and Ben Fogle to promote fraudulent crypto schemes

• How call centre scammers duped 6,000 people
• What is investment fraud and what help is there?

An organised network operating from the former Soviet state of Georgia has scammed thousands of savers from the UK, Europe and Canada out of $35m (£27m) after they fell for fake celebrity adverts on Facebook and Google that the government promised to outlaw three years ago.

Deepfake videos and fictional news reports featuring the money expert Martin Lewis, the radio DJ Zoe Ball and the adventurer Ben Fogle were used to promote fraudulent cryptocurrency and other investment schemes. The scammers are understood to have still been contacting victims in recent weeks.