Grieving son scammed out of inheritance by AI fraudsters using deepfake Elon Musk video A grieving son was scammed out of his inheritance by fraudsters who used a deepfake video of billionaire Elon Musk.
John Cairns, 61, had not long lost his dad when he saw a video on Facebook advising people to invest £250 in a new AI trading platform.
The scam unfolded in June and July 2023, when Mr Cairns decided to invest part of the money from the sale of his share of his late father’s house.
Believing the video was of Tesla tycoon Musk he invested £3,250 – but it was an elaborate investment scam and he lost the lot.
A rocketing number of faked videos apparently featuring major global figures such as Richard Branson and Keir Starmer promoting investment schemes are appearing online.
