Reddit ads pose as news stories to promote AI investment scams

UPDATE: Jun. 8, 2026, 4:36 p.m. This article has been updated with a statement from Reddit.

Scammers are running sponsored ads on Reddit that impersonate major news outlets, including the BBC, the Financial Times, and The Guardian, to push fraudulent AI-powered investment schemes, according to new research from cybersecurity firm Bitdefender Labs.

The campaign, uncovered by Bitdefender researchers Andrea Olariu and Emanuel Puscasu, promotes fictitious AI platforms such as Wencoin STX, Warrior Coin AI, and Nevo Coin. The promoted posts redirect users to cloned news websites designed to closely mimic the appearance of legitimate publishers, where fabricated articles, invented testimonials, and fake profit screenshots are used to build false credibility.

This is hardly the first time this tactic has been deployed on Reddit, but there's an increased interest in AI investment opportunities as Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX (which recently merged with xAI) prepare for IPOs.

A Reddit spokesperson provided the following comment to Mashable:

"Maintaining the integrity of our platform is a top priority. Reddit’s Ad Policies prohibit advertisements that are deceptive, untrue, or misleading. Our Ad Review teams leverage human review and sophisticated automated tooling to help identify and reject this type of ad content from running on Reddit. In addition, we also encourage users to report ads they may find misleading through the “Report an Ad” function. We always strive to improve our tools and have brought on a third-party vendor to validate the authenticity of ads on Reddit, ensuring goods, services and claims made in ads are verifiable."

Some ads appeared in video form, with Bitdefender describing them as a deepfake BBC news segment featuring a fabricated anchor delivering invented financial headlines. Others incorporated footage of political figures and references to international summits to lend the content an air of geopolitical legitimacy.

The scam pages used classic high-pressure tactics, including countdown timers, claims of limited registration spots, and conspiracy-laden narratives suggesting banks and governments were suppressing access to the platforms. Users who submitted their contact details were told a "personal advisor" would follow up within 24 hours.

Bitdefender warned that the campaign bears strong structural similarities to a Meta-based investment fraud network the firm documented in March 2026, with threat actors recycling the same social engineering methods across platforms.

Have a story to share about a scam or security breach that impacted you? Tell us about it. Email [email protected] with the subject line "Safety Net" or use this form. Someone from Mashable will get in touch.