Over the course of months, we uncovered several dubious posts, ads and websites peddling a financial scam all linked in a tangled web of fraud.
Read on to discover where our investigation led us and get some tips on protecting yourself so you don’t fall for these types of sophisticated scams.
A version of this article was originally published in Which? Tech magazine.Not yet a Which? Tech member? Find out more about Tech magazine and our 1-2-1How we uncovered the scam
Tali Ramsey, Which? investigator
'When I saw a video of a BBC news broadcast on Facebook, my suspicions began to rise. While it looked like a genuine clip, featuring the familiar BBC background, logo, sound and presenter, it was posted from a random account and promoted the ability to "secure your retirement" with a "new Quantum AI program".
'These adverts popped up on my social media feeds over the next few weeks and all promoted an investment program called Quantum AI (note that this is in no way related to Google’s similarly named initiative to build quantum computing) and featured familiar faces.
'I saw a total of 25 ads, in which David Beckham, Martin Lewis, Elon Musk, Richard Branson and BBC journalists appeared to speak about this scheme where "anyone could get rich". These adverts linked to 24 websites.
'Most of the websites I visited impersonated news sites – including the UK’s BBC and Daily Mirror, CNN and Forbes from the US, Germany’s DW News, Spain’s El Universo and Italy’s Domenica In. All with fake news stories further promoting the investment scheme. I signed up to these sites for the purposes of this investigation.'
Fake ads featuring deepfakes
Scroll through our gallery to see examples of the scam Quantum AI ads we saw.
What the scammers did next
All of the websites asked you to fill out your name, number and email address, so you could be contacted by a ‘financial adviser'.
After signing up, we were bombarded by dozens of calls a day. The script on the other end of the line became very familiar: ‘Quantum AI is a system which utilises artificial intelligence to trade and make investments automatically on your behalf!’
This was always followed by a request for a minimum £200-£250 investment to start.
Sometimes, we could hear other people making calls and speaking to recipients in the background, pointing to a possible call centre. Other times, we were told we couldn’t call them back on the same number and they couldn’t provide another number to call back on.
The investment had to happen quickly, there and then.
undefinedA web of fraud
Quantum AI operates the same way all genuine businesses do when setting up an online presence.
The fraudsters behind it start by registering a domain name with a domain registrar for a small fee, meaning that this domain name (or web address) can only be used by Quantum AI.
Then the scammers find a domain hosting provider to host the website. This is a service provider that rents out space on its or another organisation’s servers to store the website’s files and data. Essentially, a domain host is where the website lives on the internet.
The website is then created. For this scam, a fake news article was created. This promoted a non-existent investment scheme with a form to fill out your contact details. The adverts are then posted on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram) and link to these fake news websites.
A scammer uses your contact details and calls you from a spoofed number – so your phone displays a number the fraudster chooses.
You’ll be led to believe you’re transferring money into a trading account. But, in reality, scammers will get you to transfer money into a bank account that they operate.
undefinedWhat we found
This is what we uncovered when we dug into who was behind Quantum AI:
What we did
We reported the websites through Cloudflare’s abuse reporting form. Three were considered to be in violation of Cloudflare’s abuse policy, one wasn’t active, and one came back as not using Cloudflare.
For five of them, we were given other hosting providers to contact. We didn’t hear back from these and the reports were undeliverable for two of the websites. There were also six other domain hosts involved (websites can have more than one) – none responded when we contacted them.
We also reported all of the websites to their registrants. Some disabled the domains.
One registrant wanted proof in the form of an image of the webpage, but the webpage was down and we had no response when we told them this. Others didn’t reply and some said that the domain host was the more appropriate abuse contact (which we had already contacted).
What’s the UK regulator doing?
Ofcom regulates communication services, including telecoms and the internet, in the UK. We contacted it about Quantum AI and asked what was being done to protect people.
An Ofcom spokesperson told us: ‘Fraudsters’ tactics are increasingly sophisticated, and often involve using multiple channels. Tackling this complex problem requires coordinated action from the police, Government, regulators and industry.
'We’ve strengthened our rules and guidance for phone companies, to block scam calls from abroad that use spoofed UK landline numbers. And similar plans are underway to block more calls that spoof UK mobile numbers.
'When new duties under the UK’s Online Safety Act start coming into force next year, tech firms will have to assess the risk of illegal content or activity on their platforms – including fraud – take appropriate steps to reduce the risk of it appearing, and act swiftly to remove it when they become aware of it.’
What does Which? want?
Scams are often successful by using more than one platform. This is why Which?, alongside other organisations, has urged the government to make it easier for the relevant companies and authorities to share fraud intelligence, to better understand and tackle scams.
Scams are hiding in plain sight – they’re live on multiple platforms and often going unflagged. This means criminals are able to scam and scam again. While we wait for the law to catch up with their tricks, the onus is on you to protect yourself.
Read about the5 ways you can protect yourself
Blocking numbers on your mobile phone
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