Martin Lewis issues warning over ‘plague’ of online scams

MoneySavingExpert founder previously sued Facebook for defamation in connection with these scam advertisements

Martin Lewis has warned LinkedIn users about spam advertisements using his picture to promote money scams on the social media platform.

A Twitter user recently tagged the founder of MoneySavingExpert in a post, explaining their LinkedIn feed was “awash with pics of you promoting something which I know you wouldn’t be promoting”.

One ad read: “Martin Lewis reveals the secret to making £300 into £6,000 in one week”.

Other users noted they had been served the same advertisements and subsequently reported them, but they “refused to go away”.

In response, Mr Lewis posted a Twitter statement, explaining that his team has contacted LinkedIn after becoming aware of “the plague of spam/scam ads with me in there”.

“They say they’re taking them down, but please keep reporting them there. It isn’t good enough,” he continued, adding he doesn’t even have a LinkedIn account.

The 51-year-old finance expert issued a similar warning last month, when he was tagged in scam posts on Facebook about how a £250 investment can be turned into “£27,720 monthly”.

Mr Lewis’ picture was on the ad, with text that read: “I recommend it to all British [sic].”

The post was full of typos and grammatical errors, as it suggested Mr Lewis backed the “opportunity“.

When asked about his involvement, Mr Lewis confirmed the ad was a scam “run by criminals” and urged users not to go near them.

He has previously sued Facebook for defamation, launching High Court proceedings in 2018 after more than 1,000 scam advertisements using his name or picture appeared on the social media platform.

He settled his case after Facebook agreed to cover his legal costs, launch a dedicated tool to report spam ads, and donate £3m to Citizens Advice to set up a UK Scams Action project.