Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s Three-Year Fight Against ‘Fake Sites And Fraudsters’ Online

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s Three-Year Fight Against ‘Fake Sites And Fraudsters’ Online

Sir Richard Branson has a cybercrime problem. It costs victims millions of dollars and ruins the lives of ordinary people. But he’s not the perpetrator.

With an estimated net worth of $4.4 billion and a classic entrepreneurial backstory, Branson’s familiar smile, goatee and shock of blond hair is—alongside pop star Ed Sheeran—a popular celebrity face used in dubious “get rich quick” scams, according to the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Center.

Last week, Branson threw his support behind the NCSC in the battle against financial scams that have been using his image to endorse “bogus” investment opportunities. The NCSC said that it had taken down more than 300,000 malicious URLs linking to fake celebrity-endorsed investment schemes that use “mocked-up online news articles featuring the rich and famous,” to “lure people into making bogus investments.”

Branson said in a statement that his team has “dealt” with “hundreds of instances of fake sites and fraudsters impersonating me or my team online,” and confirmed that he is working in partnership with the NCSC to get the misleading articles taken down. “Sadly, the scams are not going to disappear overnight, and I would urge everyone to be vigilant and always check for official website addresses and verified social media accounts,” Branson said.


Branson’s Battle


Stories of Branson’s personal battles with cybercriminals have in the past been described by the Virgin founder as “straight out of a John le Carré book or a James Bond film.”

One story Branson blogged about online back in October 2017 tells of how the Virgin founder was asked by the then U.K. Secretary of State for Defense Sir Michael Fallon to pay $5 million in ransom for a British diplomat who had been “kidnapped” and was “being held by terrorists.” The conman “assured” Branson that the British government “would find a way” of paying him the $5 million back.

Branson added in a blog post on the debacle, “The Sir Michael I spoke to sounded exactly like Sir Michael, I was understandably cautious.” But the whole thing turned out to be a scam.

Branson then called Whitehall and the scam was revealed to be just that. Billionaire David Reuben also told Branson that he was also among “those targeted by the conman posing as Sir Michael Fallon,” and Branson adds, “Thankfully, David was rightly suspicious and the attempt failed.”

In another attempt, Branson writes on his Virgin blog of a cleaner who approached him and thanked him for his “get rich quick scheme.” The $300 the man had invested had increased to $450, but, Branson writes, “before they paid him the $450 back he had to send in another $1,000 dollars.”

“Posing as his uncle, I got on the phone to the conman. . . . I said we would send the $1,000 but wanted the $450 back first. They refused to refund the money.”

The War In House


A Virgin Group spokesperson told Forbes that the problem really kicked off in 2017 “following a wave of bitcoin-related scamming activity.” Since then, Branson’s team have been forced to react to the new reality of online scams.

Virgin warns that the latest scam involves using Branson’s face “to enhance credibility” and is usually accompanied by a fake story made to look like it’s from CNN or the BBC. Other methods involve the copying of Virgin websites. “Recently, we have seen criminals registering websites with ‘virgin’ in the name. They then use these websites to operate email addresses to correspond with members of the public and clone genuine Virgin group websites to lend credibility to their scamming activities,” a Virgin director from the London office said.

Some scams come from “sophisticated confidence tricksters,” the Virgin spokesperson adds, that “individual targets are chosen carefully and significant preparation is put in by the criminals, often involving phone calls—in which Richard might be impersonated—to lend authenticity.”

Branson writes online of a scam following the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma in the British Virgin Islands in 2017, where a “very successful businessperson” was duped by an “extremely accurate impression” of Branson while the entrepreneur was “trying to mobilize aid in the BVI.”

Branson wrote in October 2017, “The businessperson, incredibly graciously, gave $2 million, which promptly disappeared,” later adding, “this one really takes the biscuit! I’m very sorry for this incredibly kind man and incredibly grateful that they were willing to help us after the hurricane.

“If only their money had gone to the people of the BVI, not the con man.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
×