BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty has expressed her shock and dismay after discovering explicit fake images of her being used in online scams.

The 49-year-old broadcaster revealed she is accustomed to seeing misleading articles about herself online, but recent weeks have brought a more insidious wave of deception.

In an article for BBC News, the Strictly Come Dancing star disclosed that paid advertisements on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook featured doctored explicit images of her. Following an investigation by the BBC 5 Live team, they uncovered that these adverts directed users to a fraudulent BBC News website designed to scam people out of their hard-earned money.

“I was both mortified and bemused, curious about who would pay good money to spread such obvious nonsense,” Munchetty wrote.

“And what was their motive? Was it something malicious? Someone with an axe to grind?

“I discussed it with my 5 Live production team, and we began to dig deeper. It soon became apparent that my name and image were being used by scammers to deceive people into parting with their money.”

Wildlife presenter Chris Packham has also been targeted in a similar manner. Speaking to Munchetty on BBC 5 Live, he revealed that fake news websites had used his image to promote cryptocurrency scams, leveraging the BBC’s credibility to mislead the public.

“It’s extraordinarily offensive and worrying,” Packham said. “I loathe the idea that vulnerable people could be exploited by these hideous scammers.”

Munchetty stated that the BBC’s legal team had successfully removed some of the fraudulent websites through copyright enforcement. However, she warned that the problem persists, as new scam websites continue to emerge. She also highlighted the growing difficulty of having such adverts removed from X since the platform changed ownership.

Financial expert Martin Lewis has also spoken out about the rise of deepfake scams. In July 2023, he warned that criminals were using artificial intelligence to create fabricated videos of him promoting fraudulent schemes.

“This is a scam by criminals trying to steal money,” Lewis wrote on X. “It’s frightening. This is the first deepfake video scam I’ve seen with me in it. The government and regulators must step up to stop big tech from publishing such dangerous fakes. People will lose money, and it will ruin lives.”

A Meta spokesperson commented on the issue, stating:

“People who impersonate others on Facebook and Instagram violate our policies, and we remove such content when it is found—as we are doing in this case.

“We continue to invest in technology to improve our detection and enforcement against scams and work with law enforcement to prosecute scammers.”

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has strict policies against impersonation and deception. The platform automatically removes accounts that violate these rules and has introduced policy updates to combat fraudulent activity.