Martin Lewis, the founder of MoneySavingExpert, has issued an urgent warning about online scams that use his name and image to defraud victims. In a recent interview, Lewis revealed that an elderly woman with a disability lost her life savings after investing in a scheme purportedly endorsed by him. He described the scammers as 'bastards' and said he had 'tears running down my face' upon hearing her story.
Lewis, who has built a career on trust and consumer advocacy, says his identity is one of the most frequently used in deepfake advertising. Analysis by Action Fraud in 2024 suggested that victims have reported losing more than £20m to scams featuring Lewis, who topped the chart of famous faces in scam adverts, ahead of Taylor Swift and Elon Musk. Lewis emphasised that these are not just scammers but 'organised crime' with sophisticated marketing systems.
Despite campaigning against such fraud for nearly a decade, Lewis says little has changed. He successfully campaigned for scam advertising to be included in the 2023 Online Safety Act, but claims 'absolutely bugger all has been done'. He criticised the government for delays, noting that consultations on new rules have been pushed back to mid-2026. Ofcom, the regulator, says it is 'working at speed' but its final policy statements are not due until mid-2027 at the latest.
Lewis has written to Prime Minister Keir Starmer alongside the chief executive of Which? to express concerns about lack of action, but has not yet received a reply. He said: 'I feel completely let down by the entire political classes.' He added that he feels he is losing the battle against these scams, which he described as a 'constant, ongoing deluge of shit'.
