Naga Munchetty: Scammers spread fake nude pictures of me on social media

"Naga Munchetti: This is the astir humiliating time of my life. Yesterday's quality shocked the full of the UK."

The header was capable to marque maine privation to work much – but the information they had spelled my sanction incorrect made maine instantly question the credibility of the journalism progressive – if determination was any.

I'm utilized to seeing misleading articles astir myself online, but the screenshots I've been sent by friends and followers connected societal media successful caller weeks are a batch much insidious than most.

Paid-for advertisements are popping up crossed X and Facebook, immoderate including crudely mocked-up images of maine bare – my look severely photoshopped onto idiosyncratic else's body.

I was some mortified and bemused, funny astir who would wage bully wealth to dispersed specified evident nonsense. And what was their motive? Is it thing malicious? Someone with an axe to grind?

I discussed it with my 5 Live accumulation team, and we began to excavation into it more. It soon became evident that my sanction and representation were being utilized by scammers to effort to hoodwink radical retired of money.

Clicking connected the adverts took you done to a fake quality article, implicit with BBC logo and imagery.

The fake nonfiction astir maine suggested I had been detained by the authorities pursuing a "controversial" interrogation connected ITV's This Morning, wherever I allegedly gave details astir a "lucrative loophole" to marque money.

It was made to look similar a BBC News article, implicit with logo and branding, and it contained links to a scam cyber trading website, which has present been taken down aft my accumulation squad reported it to the BBC ineligible team.

I'm not the archetypal high-profile look to beryllium utilized by scammers to instrumentality radical retired of their hard-earned money.

My chap 5 Live presenter and Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis, has antecedently spoken retired astir his look being utilized to beforehand cryptocurrency scams.

Wildlife TV presenter Chris Packham told maine helium archetypal saw fake articles astir himself appearing connected societal media 2 years ago.

"Recently I opened an relationship with Bluesky and wrong hours determination were fake accounts re-posting these scams from different platforms," helium said.

"The ones connected Bluesky were a spot much blase successful that scammers acceptable up a 'conservation fund' with my individuality and did immoderate probe and straight sent it to lawyers who I enactment with connected biology projects asking for 'donations'

"On a idiosyncratic level this affects my credibility arsenic an environmentalist and campaigner. As a communicator you request spot and for radical to judge what you're saying and cognize I'm telling the information and this impacts that.

"I hatred the thought of my representation being utilized to scam, it's abjectly terrible."

Lisa Barber, tech exertion astatine Which?, said 1 of their reporters had signed up to a website linked to from a mendacious advert, akin to the ones written astir maine and Chris, and was "bombarded" by calls from idiosyncratic encouraging them to put their money.

"The registered addresses each look to pb to Reyjkavik successful Iceland, and adjacent a car parkland there," she said.

"Our newsman could sometimes perceive different radical making calls successful the background, which makes america deliberation it was a telephone centre. There was truthful overmuch unit connected [our reporter] from the caller – rather an assertive sell."

"People person mislaid hundreds and immoderate thousands done this. It's truly convincing and comparatively new, but societal media platforms request to bash more."

The fake photos and articles being dispersed astir online are mildly upsetting, but my main information for speaking retired astir them is to effort to halt anyone handing implicit immoderate wealth oregon idiosyncratic accusation to these scammers.

I was fortunate that the BBC ineligible section were capable to usage copyright instrumentality to person the website taken down, but I've been told different website is apt to popular up soon enough, and getting ads taken down from X has go much hard since it changed ownership.

Meta, who ain Facebook and Instagram, said: "We don't let fraudulent enactment and enactment intimately with instrumentality enforcement to enactment investigations and support scammers disconnected our platforms. We proceed to enactment intimately with Stop Scams UK to assistance victims and region scams astatine the source.

"As portion of our ongoing enactment connected this issue, we announced a caller concern earlier this twelvemonth with UK banks to combat scams called FIRE programme. This is simply a first-of-its-kind accusation sharing concern with banks, allowing banks to stock quality straight with america to combat scams connected our platform.

"People tin study ads they judge interruption our policies by clicking the 3 dots successful the precocious close manus country of the ad. These reports are an important awesome to our advertisement reappraisal systems, and whitethorn punctual a re-review of the ad. This feedback besides helps to amended our policies and enforcement."

The BBC has besides contacted X and Bluesky for comment.

I anticipation that raising consciousness of the scam whitethorn astatine slightest marque it little worthwhile for the criminals involved, and it serves arsenic a utile reminder to not judge everything that you work astir maine - and beryllium cautious what you click on.

Listen to Naga Munchetty connected 5 Live and BBC Sounds, Monday - Wednesday from 11:00 GMT.