City of London Police reports £24.3m lost to AI deepfake investment fraud

City of London Police disclosed on October 27, 2026 that criminals stole £24.3 million through fake investment schemes using artificial intelligence, including deepfakes, between January and August 2026.

The force's Report Fraud service received more than 1,300 reports of this AI-enabled investment fraud during that period, with people aged 60 or over accounting for nearly 80 per cent of the reports.

What happened

Because Report Fraud relies on information supplied by the public, each report in this category was individually reviewed to confirm that AI or deepfake technology had actually been used in the offence before being counted in the total.

Commander Ollie Shaw of the City of London Police said criminals are increasingly using various forms of AI, including deepfakes, to make fraudulent investment schemes appear legitimate and more enticing to potential victims.

Victims were persuaded to provide their personal details after clicking on a fake AI-generated endorsement, before being contacted by criminals posing as investment advisers or account managers.

After making an initial payment, victims were shown supposed profits through a professional-looking trading platform and then convinced to invest larger sums.

When victims tried to withdraw their money, fraudsters often claimed further payments were needed in fees or charges, leading to even more money being stolen.

Impact

The reported losses total £24.3 million from fake investment schemes in which AI played a role, drawn from reports filed over an eight-month window.

Within the more than 1,300 reports logged, 1,033 came from people aged 60 or over, making older adults the group most affected by this fraud type.

Response

The police advised anyone considering an investment to use the Financial Conduct Authority's Firm Checker to confirm a company is authorised before handing over money.

They also recommended speaking with trusted friends or family members, or seeking professional independent advice, before making significant financial decisions.

Lessons for security leaders

These figures show that AI-generated endorsements of investment platforms, not network intrusions, are driving measurable financial loss, which means fraud-awareness programs deserve the same priority as technical AI controls. Security and trust teams that serve older customers or family offices should treat deepfake celebrity or executive endorsements in paid social ads as an established fraud vector rather than an edge case. Pointing users toward independent verification, such as a regulator's firm-checker tool, before any transfer, mirrors the exact gap criminals exploited in these cases. Because victims were moved from a fake ad to a human posing as an adviser and then to a fabricated trading dashboard, awareness messaging should walk through that full chain rather than warning about deepfakes alone.