AI deepfake scams are impersonating Australia's most public faces

Australia's corporate regulator, ASIC, has issued a stark warning about the escalating use of AI-powered deepfake technology by scammers to impersonate well-known public figures and promote fraudulent investment schemes. The watchdog highlighted a significant surge in these sophisticated scams, which are becoming increasingly difficult to detect.

ASIC reported removing over 19,000 scams in the last 12 months, marking an alarming 182% increase from the previous year. These fraudulent operations frequently employ deepfake videos of finance personalities or politicians on social media. Victims are often lured to fake news websites designed to lend credibility before being directed to dubious investment platforms.

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It's taken a lifetime to build trust and it's so easily lost.

Prominent Australians, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, billionaire Gina Rinehart, the late broadcaster John Laws, Senator Pauline Hanson, and ABC finance journalist Alan Kohler, have been among the most frequently impersonated. The scams typically begin with social media advertisements featuring a celebrity's supposed endorsement, leading users to fake news articles that promote sham investment platforms.

Australians lost more than $2 billion to scams in 2025, with financial losses rising by nearly 8% compared to the previous year. Investment scams alone constituted over 38% of this total, amounting to $837.7 million. Veteran ABC finance journalist Alan Kohler described the situation as a "constant game of 'whack a mole'," noting that even after platforms remove scam accounts, they quickly reappear. He emphasized how easily trust, built over a lifetime, can be lost through such impersonations.

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It was like whack a mole … it just kept coming back.