Top Gear’s Clarkson and May brand crypto scam ads as ‘balls’

Former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May have denounced as “balls” a series of crypto scam ads using their names, and have encouraged fans to “say b*****ks to it” and go to the pub.

May raised the issue on Saturday after a series of paid-for adverts appeared on X (formerly Twitter), directing users to a fake BBC article bearing his name.

The article contains a fabricated interview with supposed quotes from May designed to trick readers into believing they were missing out on a lucrative investment opportunity. To join the scheme via the suspicious crypto platform Immediate Chain, users must pay a £250 signup fee.

The fake article reports on a made-up interview before linking to the fraudulent crypto site.

Read more: Late Friends star Matthew Perry’s X account hacked by crypto scammers

The Grand Tour presenter said, “It seems @JeremyClarkson is also appearing in these scam ads. He, too, is not really dispensing fiscal advice. And shouldn’t.”

May added that the pair’s fellow presenter Richard Hammond is also not involved with the fake crypto ads, noting that “there’s grifting, and then there’s stretching credibility to the point where it snaps, flies back, and hits you in the plums.”

Clarkson joined May in clarifying that the pair are not endorsing any scheme and said that he believes that crypto ‘sounds ghastly.’

I realise that my face has appeared in a number of scam posts about crypto currencies and retirement planning. It’s all balls, obviously, but, since I’m here, my genuine financial advice is to say ‘bollocks to it’, and go to the pub.

— James May (@MrJamesMay) March 23, 2024

Read more: Irish minister wants X to remove ‘deeply sinister’ crypto scam ads

Elon Musk’s social media platform has a long history of hosting ads promoting scams, including those promising crypto, trips to mars, and even Neuralink brain chips.

This month, Ireland’s deputy prime minister wrote to X demanding the platform take down a series of scam ads using his likeness. The minister previously took Google to court over similar promotions and successfully pushed the firm to reveal identifying details about the ads’ buyers.

Source