How James May and Jeremy Clarkson became the unlikely faces of a cryptocurrency scam

The presenters of The Grand Tour are being taken for a ride, but there is nothing automotive about it. Instead, they are falling victim to criminal schemes. Recently, all three – Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond – have found themselves being deepfaked by scammers trying to sell cryptocurrency online. Ads bearing the presenters’ likenesses are popping up all over the web, potentially tricking innocent browsers into parting with their money, swayed by the reassuring imprimatur of a beloved car enthusiast. In March, May, 61, tweeted that he had been made aware of fake ads on X (formerly Twitter) using a real image of him, alongside a made-up transcript in which he extolled the merits of a cryptocurrency. “I realise that my face has appeared in a number of scam posts about crypto currencies and retirement planning,” he wrote. “It’s all balls, obviously, but, since I’m here, my genuine financial advice is to say ‘bo---cks to it’, and go to the pub.” He followed it up with posts saying that his fellow-presenters had also been caught up in it. I realise that my face has appeared in a number of scam posts about crypto currencies and retirement planning. It's...

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