Pensioner loses $224k after deepfake Luxon scam

• Published date: 30 October 2024
• Author: Lane Nichols
• Publication title: Stratford Press

Jill Creasy, 72, spotted the realistic-looking video advertisement on Facebook in July this year. In it, the Prime Minister purportedly urged pensioners to supplement their income by splurging on Bitcoin

However the video — along with others depicting TVNZ broadcaster Jenny May Clarkson and deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters — were AI-generated deepfakes that weeks later sparked a public scam warning from the Financial Markets Authority.

With $20,000 savings plus a term deposit with $200,000 inherited from her late mother’s house, Creasy was keen to invest.

After responding, she was contacted by a Greek national calling himself Adam Manolas who claimed to be a Terma Group investment adviser based in Manchester.

Manolas explained how the investment worked then sent Creasy software called AnyDesk, which gave him remote access to her computer. Using her email, he set up accounts under her name at crypto exchange platforms Easy Crypto and Binance, before instructing her to log in to her TSB internet banking.

She then watched as he transferred the first of a dozen or so payments over the next 26 days to purchase Bitcoin from Easy Crypto. Most of the payments were for $20,000 — her daily transfer limit with TSB.

Creasy’s Bitcoin was supposed to be deposited in her Binance wallet, but she later learned it was sent to another account controlled by the scammers.

A computer expert who helped Creasy unravel the...