Chris Packham calls on Elon Musk at Twitter/X to crackdown on crypto currency scam ads

CHRIS Packham has become the latest celebrity to have his likeness used without his permission in phoney crypto currency adverts posted online by internet scammers.

A picture of the New Forest-based TV naturalist has featured in numerous online ads, prompting him to call on Twitter – now rebranded as X – to “fix” the situation.

In a recent tweet seen by more than 1.3-million people, Mr Packham wrote: “I'm currently the target of a significant scam operation on Twitter involving 100s of profiles.

“They come in the form of paid-for adverts claiming that I made money from cryptocurrencies, then using my fake ‘endorsement’ to encourage others to invest too.

“For the avoidance of doubt, these are all scams. Elon Musk and Twitter safety team – please fix this!

“These adverts may seem innocuous, but the perpetrators must be stealing £10,000s from unsuspecting people online.

“Many of the offending accounts have gold verification ticks from X, meaning they're paying £13,200 per year for the privilege.

“The adverts also have huge reach – 500,000+ per tweet. Elon Musk – this urgently needs fixing.”

Responding in an online forum to the faked adverts, one user wrote: “The idea of Chris Packham of all people hawking some crypto bro investment thing is laughable. I'd sooner believe Miriam Margolyes advertising botox.”

Another wrote: “Last time I was on Twitter, a few weeks ago, all my adverts were Packham related – a lot of ‘how he makes his money’ type guff.”

Finance expert Martin Lewis tweeted his support for Chris Packham and has launched a campaign to crack down on fake ads through the Online Safety Bill.

The A&T has approached X for comment.