Sir David Attenborough, Martin Lewis and Elon Musk among the celebrities' names being used by scammers to make false endorsement claims

Tony Johnson (57) and his wife Eloisa (45) from Paulsgrove, was scammed out of thousands of pounds following a social media scam. The Facebook advert said investors could double or triple their investments and used Martin Lewis as the head of it.

Picture: Sarah Standing (180523-4859) — Tony Johnson (57) and his wife Eloisa (45) from Paulsgrove, was scammed out of thousands of pounds following a social media scam. The Facebook advert said investors could double or triple their investments and used Martin Lewis as the head of it. Picture: Sarah Standing (180523-4859)

NatWest said that in one case it has seen, someone lost more than £285,000 after responding to a bogus article which gave the false impression of being an interview with Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones.

In another case seen by the bank, a customer lost £275,000 after seeing a bogus advert on social media which featured an image of Sir David Attenborough. The advert featured an image of Sir David, alongside text making false claims linking him to investments, NatWest said.

In other cases, customers have lost money after responding to scams falsely claiming to have links with well-known names such as Bradley Walsh, Jeff Bezos and Twitter owner Elon Musk, NatWest said.

It added that many scam adverts originate on social media.

Tony and Eloisa Johnson, of Paulsgrove, lost £45,000 through a manipulative fraud which used the likeness of well-renowned financial expert Martin Lewis. Mrs Johnson responded to a Facebook advert that promised to multiply any investments through trading Bitcoin.

After bombarding her with calls, the fraudsters convinced Mrs Johnson to install apps onto her phone, through which they were able to lift her bank details. They took out two loans and made several direct payments in her name.

When she asked one of the callers if they were legitimate, they lied and said: ‘As you can see, it is affiliated with Martin Lewis.’

Stuart Skinner, a scam expert at NatWest, said: ‘Criminals are using some of the UK’s most trusted and respected celebrity images to steal millions of pounds. I’d urge you to be extremely cautious of fake celebrity investment adverts seen online. A cross-industry effort with social media companies is required to stop this crime.’

NatWest said it has warnings online and in its mobile banking app encouraging customers to think carefully before making investments. Its data covered cases reported by NatWest customers, covering the period from June 2022 to May 2023.

Investment scams cost consumers £114.1m in 2022, according to trade association UK Finance.