Deepfake Investment Ads – Bogus State-Backed Savings Scheme

Critical

Got a message, call or offer like this?

Take your time. Treat it as a scam until you have checked it yourself.

Don't tap links, reply, or ring numbers it gives you. On a call, hang up.
Don't pay, and don't share card details, PINs, passwords or codes.
Check with whoever it claims to be, using contact details you find yourself.

Already paid or shared details? What to do now Full step-by-step guide Report it

Overview

FraudSMART, the fraud awareness initiative run by Banking & Payments Federation Ireland, warned on 28 May 2026 of a surge in AI-generated online adverts promoting bogus state-backed investment schemes. The adverts carry fake images or videos of well-known politicians and business people appearing to endorse a scheme, and they borrow credibility from real news coverage: in FraudSMART's words, "Fraudsters are exploiting recent news coverage of a planned state-backed savings and investment scheme to make their adverts appear legitimate." You click the advert, fill in a short form with your contact details, and are then rung by a supposed "financial advisor" who presses you for an immediate "security deposit" to secure your place. Once you authorise that payment the money is moved through several accounts, often overseas, and cashed out. An Garda Síochána figures reported by FraudSMART on the same date show reports of investment fraud in Ireland rose by over 20% in 2025 compared to 2024, with over €20 million in losses. This is a different scam from the Raisin Postal Savings Scam covered under Bank & Refund Scams, which arrives as a printed brochure through the letterbox imitating the branding of a real savings platform, and from the Bates Finance Limited Clone Investment Scam, which misuses the name of a genuinely authorised firm. Here both the endorsement and the scheme are fabricated.

Typical Targets

•People in their early 50s who are actively managing savings or making longer-term financial decisions ahead of retirement — FraudSMART reports many victims of investment scams are in this group
•Savers who have followed news coverage of government savings and investment announcements
•People of any age who see the adverts on social media feeds, video platforms and news sites
•Anyone who takes a familiar public face in an advert as a sign the offer is genuine
•People frustrated by deposit rates and looking for a better return
•Readers who have never checked a firm against the Central Bank of Ireland register

Why This Scam Works

•The advert appears to carry the endorsement of a politician or business figure the reader already recognises — the image or video is AI-generated and the endorsement never happened
•It attaches itself to real news. A planned state-backed savings and investment scheme had been reported on, so the offer sounds like something the reader half-remembers hearing about
•"State-backed" implies government protection. There is no scheme, no authorisation and no compensation scheme behind it
•Places are described as limited and being snapped up fast, which pressures the reader to act before checking anything
•Guaranteed returns or a guaranteed monthly income are promised — a promise no legitimate investment makes
•The registration form asks only for contact details, which feels harmless. No money is mentioned until a person is on the phone
•The callback sounds like a regulated advisor, and the payment is framed as a "security deposit" holding your place rather than as handing over your savings

Example

A man in his early fifties in Kildare saw a video advert in his news feed in which a well-known public figure appeared to endorse a new state-backed savings scheme paying a guaranteed monthly income. The video looked and sounded genuine. He clicked through and entered his name and mobile number on a short form. The next day a caller describing himself as a financial advisor told him places were nearly gone and asked for a "security deposit" of €12,000 to secure his allocation. He transferred it from savings he had built up for retirement. When he was asked for a second payment he hesitated, and the number stopped connecting. No such scheme existed and no public figure had endorsed anything.

* An illustration of how this scam works, not from a victim case we hold.

How to Avoid This Scam

Do not click investment adverts. If an offer interests you, look the firm up yourself through a trusted source rather than following the link
Treat a celebrity or political endorsement as a warning sign rather than reassurance — AI-generated video of a public figure is cheap to produce and is the whole basis of this scam
Check the firm on the Central Bank of Ireland register at registers.centralbank.ie before you send a euro. If it is not listed exactly as it presented itself to you, do not engage
Check the Central Bank's warning list of unauthorised firms at centralbank.ie/consumer-hub/unauthorised-firms as well as the register
Use Scamchecker.ie — the free website checker run by BPFI and FraudSMART — before entering your details on any investment site
Know which check applies. In a clone-firm scam such as the Bates Finance Limited scam the firm name is real, so the check is to ring the number listed for that firm on the Central Bank register and never the number in the advert. Here the scheme is invented, so nothing will match on the register at all — and no genuine Irish savings scheme is sold by a cold call after an online form
Pause and take your time. FraudSMART's advice is that a legitimate investment opportunity will never pressure you to transfer money immediately
Be suspicious of any guaranteed return or guaranteed monthly income
Talk to a regulated financial adviser, and to family or a friend you trust, before making any investment
Never give personal or banking details to a company that contacted you first

If You've Been Caught Out

Don't panic – take these steps immediately:

1Contact your bank immediately and ask it to attempt to recall the payment — the money is moved on through other accounts within hours
2Report it to An Garda Síochána. garda.ie states that any attempted fraud should be reported to An Garda Síochána and to your financial institution if relevant without delay
3Report the advert and the firm to the Central Bank of Ireland, which takes reports of unauthorised firms through its consumer hub
4Stop all contact with the "advisor" and send nothing further — there is no fee, tax or deposit that will release money that was never invested
5Keep everything: the advert, screenshots, the website address, the caller's number, emails and your bank transfer records
6Ignore anyone who contacts you afterwards offering to recover your money for a fee. Recovery scams are usually run by the same criminals. How to recognise the follow-up approach
7If you handed over identity documents as well as money, watch your accounts for further fraud attempts
8Do not feel embarrassed. Speaking alongside FraudSMART, Age Friendly Ireland said these scams are designed to appear genuine and can be very difficult to spot, and urged anyone affected to talk to a family member or trusted friend and report it