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Grieving John Cairns was scammed out of his inheritance he obtained from his late father after he fell sufferer to a deepfake AI video of billionaire Elon Musk which inspired him to take a position his share of cash
Mr Cairns put in £250 and was immediately informed he had made $100 revenue – about £82
A grieving son lost his inheritance to scammers who used deep-fake to imitate billionaire Elon Musk. John Cairns, 61, recently lost his dad when a video on Facebook caught his attention. It advised people to invest £250 in a new AI trading platform.
Thinking the video was of Tesla’s Elon Musk, Mr Cairns invested £3,250 – but it was an elaborate investment scam and he lost it all.
It comes as an elevated variety of faked movies apparently that includes main world figures equivalent to Richard Branson and Keir Starmer selling funding schemes are showing on-line, the Daily Mirror reported.
The video used a deepfake of Musk
Mr Cairns, a senior contract manager for a cleaning company, urges other to stay careful. He said: “I was grieving for my dad, and they took advantage of that. I wasn’t thinking straight. I was wet behind the ears doing this, and I just wanted to dip my finger in the water with these investments and see how it would go. It ended up being a big dip.”
The scam occurred in June and July 2023, when Mr Cairns decided to invest some of the money from the sale of his share of his late father’s house. After sharing his details, the poor man was contacted by an “account supervisor” who outlined how the investments would work.
He was also told to download MetaTrader 5 – a legitimate trading platform – onto his phone, along with an app which gives third parties remote access.
Mr Cairns put in £250 and was immediately informed he had made $100 revenue – about £82. Tempted, he threw in one other £1,490 and was satisfied it was real when his request to withdraw $100 was profitable.
Mr Cairns has warned others to watch out
Then, he deposited a further £1,510 but when Mr Cairns, asked to withdraw his cash he was “fobbed off”.
His daughter later discovered the scam and he learned he had been deceived. National Fraud Helpline solicitors are trying to recover his money, saying banks have a duty to protect customers. The law firm’s Fiona Bresnen said: “It is becoming increasingly difficult for anyone to tell what investments are legitimate.”
For fraud prevention recommendation and assist go to: www.nationalfraudhelpline.co.uk
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