Gareth Wyn Jones, the 58-year-old star of the BBC series Family Farm, has been targeted in a £2,000 deepfake 'sextortion' plot. The hill farmer from north Wales said he received an AI-generated video appearing to show him with a woman, followed by a demand for payment to prevent its release.
Mr Wyn Jones, who has two million social media followers, described the experience as 'very scary' but refused to pay. Instead, he threatened the blackmailers with legal action. He said the video 'didn’t look realistic' and was clearly created using artificial intelligence.
The farmer explained that the scam began when he was contacted by someone online selling goats for £5. The account later changed its profile picture to a woman and sent the deepfake clip. The blackmailer demanded payment and threatened to hack his phone and contact his wife.
Mr Wyn Jones, a father of three, urged others to remain strong and not give in to such demands. He posted a warning on his Facebook page, noting that he had since been contacted by others who had faced similar scams.
The TV personality, known as 'the nation’s favourite farmer', has presented the BBC documentary series The Family Farm and lives in Llanfairfechan with his family.
