Deepfake scams using Australia's PM have cost victims $7.4 million, ASIC warns

Key points

• Australian scammers stole at least $7.4 million from victims using deepfake investment ads, according to ASIC.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is the most commonly faked public figure in these schemes.
• ASIC, Australia's corporate watchdog, says deepfake investment fraud has risen steeply in recent months.
• A deepfake is a fake video or audio clip generated by AI that makes a real person appear to say or do something they never did.

Scammers are putting Anthony Albanese's face in fake investment videos, and Australians have lost at least $7.4 million to the fraud, Australia's corporate regulator ASIC (the Australian Securities and Investments Commission) has warned.

The method is straightforward and ugly. Fraudsters use AI tools to create a deepfake, a fake video generated by AI that looks and sounds like a real person, of the Prime Minister endorsing a share scheme or crypto opportunity. The video gets pushed out through social media ads. A viewer trusts the familiar face, clicks through, and hands over money that never comes back.

ASIC says Albanese is the figure scammers co-opt most often, though other celebrities and politicians appear in these fakes too. The regulator, first reported on by The Guardian, describes the rise as steep.

Why are politicians and celebrities used?

Familiarity is the weapon. People trust a face they recognise from the news. A clip of a sitting prime minister urging viewers toward an investment carries instant credibility that a cold call or an email never could.

The AI tools needed to produce a convincing deepfake have become cheaper and easier to use over the past two years. What once required a film studio's budget now takes a laptop and a free afternoon. That is why these scams are accelerating.

What should you watch for?

If you see a video of any public figure, politician, celebrity or businessperson, promoting a specific investment on social media, treat it as a red flag immediately. Legitimate investment opportunities do not arrive as video ads featuring prime ministers.

Four things worth checking before you act on anything:

• Look for unnatural blinking, lip movements that drift slightly out of sync with speech, or odd lighting around the face and hairline. These are common deepfake tells.
• Search the person's name alongside the investment name. If a real endorsement existed, it would appear in legitimate news coverage.
• Go directly to ASIC's website (asic.gov.au) and search the investment company's name before sending any money. Unlicensed operators won't appear on the register.
• If someone pressures you to decide quickly, that urgency is designed to stop you thinking clearly.

If you think you have seen one of these videos, report it to the platform where you found it and to Scamwatch at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.