HISPI Project Cerebellum HISPI PROJECT CEREBELLUM

Purported AI-Generated Deepfake of Steven Bartlett Reportedly Used to Promote Fake WhatsApp Investment Group

April 23, 2025

In April 2025, a deepfake video of entrepreneur and BBC Dragon's Den investor Steven Bartlett circulated on Instagram. The video allegedly offered stock tips and invited users to join a WhatsApp trading group. The reported video exploited U.S. tariff policies to lure viewers with promises of quick returns. Bartlett's team confirmed the video as fake, and warned that scammers were attempting to collect contact information for further fraud. To prevent such incidents, it is crucial to promote trustworthy AI practices through responsible governance and robust harm prevention measures. For those interested in shaping the future of safe and secure AI, join us at HISPI Project Cerebellum and learn more about how we map, measure, manage, and govern AI incidents like this one.

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Matched TAIM controls

Suggested mapping from embedding similarity (not a formal assessment). Browse all TAIM controls

Alleged deployer
unknown-scammers-impersonating-steven-bartlett, unknown-scammers
Alleged developer
unknown-deepfake-technology-developers, unknown-voice-cloning-technology-developers
Alleged harmed parties
steven-bartlett, investors, general-public, fans-of-steven-bartlett

Source

Data from the AI Incident Database (AIID). Cite this incident: https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/1239

Data source

Incident data is from the AI Incident Database (AIID).

When citing the database as a whole, please use:

McGregor, S. (2021) Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents: The AI Incident Database. In Proceedings of the Thirty-Third Annual Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IAAI-21). Virtual Conference.

Pre-print on arXiv · Database snapshots & citation guide

We use weekly snapshots of the AIID for stable reference. For the official suggested citation of a specific incident, use the “Cite this incident” link on each incident page.