Rod Stewart told me to invest in Bitcoin but the ad was a deepfake...I lost £150k

Fraudsters preying on the public's trust in celebrities, brands and media figures are using artificial intelligence to create videos and steal fortunes.

- BY MATT ROPER and AMANDA KILLELEA

One such victim was Wayne, who left the Army eight years ago to care for his kids and wife who had breast cancer.

He was seeking other ways to support his family when he saw an online advert seeming to show Rod Stewart enthusing about the benefits of investing in cryptocurrency Bitcoin.

Wayne says: "It was him talking. I thought, well, Rod Stewart's telling me it's a good venture, then why not go with it?"

Wayne was called by a "really nice chap" an hour after entering his contact details. After explaining his wife's problems, Wayne says: "I really did believe this man wanted to help me."

When his initial £500 seemed to grow he paid in more, in amounts of between £10,000 and £20,000. The scammer also preyed on his grief after his wife sadly lost her battle with cancer, convincing him to invest even more.

Wayne remembers how seven months later he woke and looked at his account.

"It was the worst thing, everything had gone. I was just sick, I felt sick to the core. You realise it's happened, and there's no coming back."

Wayne had lost £150,000. Four years later, he found a legal firm specialising in helping victims of investment fraud and, after arguing his bank had been negligent, managed successfully to recover all of his money.