Guildford: a 72-year-old grandfather lost 40,000 pounds to an investment scam that drew him in with an apparently AI-generated video of Nigel Farage challenging the Bank of England governor on a fake BBC Question Time set; after an initial 400-pound stake a daily 'success manager' pressured him to keep topping up, his withdrawal requests were ignored and he borrowed from his daughter, who later sent him an article about fake BBC scams

Surrey Live (Victoria Shipp, 22 September 2026) reported that a Surrey pensioner had revealed how he lost 40,000 pounds to an investment scam that used a deepfake video of Nigel Farage. The seemingly AI-generated clip showed the irate Reform leader challenging Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey in front of a fake BBC Question Time backdrop, and viewers were then directed to a supposed news article that promised huge returns for minimal investments. The 72-year-old grandad, who was looking for investment opportunities, told partners at Richardson Hartley Law that he had initially invested just 400 pounds on the crude-oil markets with GBP Markets, but within a few weeks he had lost 40,000 pounds. The victim, from Guildford, who wants to remain anonymous, said he was gutted because it looked so realistic and that it hurts terribly. The firm's partners explained that he was appointed a 'success manager' who would call or message him every day to advise on trades, and was given an account on a realistic-looking online platform showing his balance, trades and live commodity prices; soon his account showed a balance of 95,000 dollars. He said the success manager was very pleasant and lulled him into a false sense of security, but when trying to make him invest more he gently, then not so gently, bullied him and wore him down. He was told drops in the oil price had wiped out his profits; with his balance down to 36,000 dollars he was convinced to top up to 50,000 dollars to get a guaranteed 5 per cent a month interest, and that is how he lost another 20,000 pounds, even borrowing money from his daughter when his own accessible funds ran out. When he twice asked to withdraw some money to recover his investment he was ignored. It was not until his daughter sent him an article containing information about fake BBC scams that he knew he had been conned. He is now working with solicitors from Richardson Hartley Law to recover his money from his banks. Senior partner Martin Richardson said the deepfake video of Farage and Bailey had been shown millions of times to social-media users and that fake news stories in which commenters said they had made money made it particularly convincing. The pensioner said he hoped to God he could get his money back.

A 72-year-old lost 40,000 pounds, including money borrowed from his daughter, to a fake trading platform promoted by a deepfake video of a politician; he describes being bullied into further deposits, being gutted and hurting terribly. His own account and his solicitors', as reported by one outlet.

No police action is reported. He has instructed Richardson Hartley Law, which runs a national fraud helpline, to try to recover the money from his banks. The scam platform, GBP Markets, is named by the outlet; no regulatory action is reported.