AI-Generated Deepfake Videos of Elon Musk and Dragon's Den Used in $2.3M Crypto Fraud Targeting Canadians

In July 2023, a 51-year-old woman in Markham, Ontario saw a deepfake video on Facebook featuring a synthetic likeness and altered voice of Elon Musk, claiming viewers could "make money daily" investing in his cryptocurrency platform (BNN Bloomberg, 2025; CP24, 2025). She made an initial $250 e-transfer and was shown fabricated profits of US$30 within two days — establishing false credibility (BNN Bloomberg, 2025; CP24, 2025). Over the following months, she took out a $1 million second mortgage, made transfers of $300,000-$350,000 at a time, and watched a fake dashboard show her account growing past $3 million (BNN Bloomberg, 2025; CP24, 2025). When she attempted to withdraw, scammers demanded she pay "taxes and fees" first (BNN Bloomberg, 2025; CP24, 2025). She borrowed an additional $500,000 from family and friends to pay these fees (BNN Bloomberg, 2025; CP24, 2025). She lost $1.7 million total — her entire retirement savings and home equity (BNN Bloomberg, 2025; CP24, 2025).

Separately, a man from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island saw a Facebook Story appearing to be endorsed by Dragon's Den (BNN Bloomberg, 2025; CP24, 2025). Starting with small amounts, he escalated to investing $10,000 per day (BNN Bloomberg, 2025; CP24, 2025). His fake dashboard showed his investment growing past $1 million (BNN Bloomberg, 2025; CP24, 2025). He lost his entire $600,000 life savings (BNN Bloomberg, 2025; CP24, 2025).

A W5 investigation aired December 19, 2025 traced many of the scam operations to criminal compounds in Southeast Asia — including more than 35 buildings in one Philippines location "designed for the sole purpose of scamming," with many operators themselves trafficking victims forced to make calls 16 hours per day (BNN Bloomberg / W5, 2025). Former US prosecutor Erin West criticized Meta directly, stating the platform is "enabling these bad actors to reach their prey" (BNN Bloomberg / W5, 2025). Meta provided a generic policy statement to W5, saying it is "against our policies to run ads that deceptively use public figures to try to scam people" and that the company removes scam ads when detected (BNN Bloomberg / W5, 2025).

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reported $103 million lost specifically to crypto investment scams in 2025 (Mitrade, 2025). Dragon's Den and CBC had posted warnings about fake Facebook ads impersonating the show as early as April 2020, but the advent of deepfake video has made these scams substantially more convincing.