David “Kochie” Koch did not endorse the crypto trading app promoted in the ads. Scammers used his photograph and fabricated comments to make an investment offer look credible. The November 7, 2022, Sunrise discussion followed Koch’s account that a viewer had told him he lost A$30,000 after responding to an ad using Koch’s image.
What happened on Sunrise?
During a televised interview with Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones, Koch described the repeated misuse of his name and likeness in online advertising. He said a viewer had contacted him after losing A$30,000 through an advertisement that used Koch’s picture and false comments about cryptocurrency. The amount was reported by Koch as the viewer’s account, not as a finding about a named app or its operators. PerthNow’s November 7, 2022 report covered the segment.
Koch said the material appeared across Facebook, LinkedIn and advertising feeds on mainstream websites. Jones said the government believed the law needed updating and discussed stronger accountability for platforms that failed to remove unlawful or fraudulent material. The exchange was a discussion about online scams and platform responsibility; it did not identify who operated the advertised scheme.
Did David Koch endorse the app?
No. The endorsement was fabricated. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) named Koch among public figures whose identities had been used in fake cryptocurrency endorsements, warning that a celebrity endorsement in an online investment ad can be a scam signal. ASIC’s warning also cautioned about fake news sites, purported media coverage and promises of easy or unusually high returns.
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Western Australia’s ScamNet separately warned that schemes promoted as “Bitcoin Code” and “Bitcoin System” had fraudulently used Koch’s image. Its warning said advertisements claiming Koch or his wife recommended Bitcoin investments were scams. A brand name or polished landing page does not establish that an ad belongs to a legitimate investment service. ScamNet’s alert describes those examples.
How the fake endorsement funnel worked
Reports describe a recurring pattern, although similar-looking promotions do not prove that one group ran every campaign. The offer might be framed as Bitcoin, a trading robot, a broker or another investment product; “crypto scam” does not necessarily mean the victim ever bought or received cryptocurrency.
- An ad borrows a familiar face. A social-media promotion or sponsored link uses Koch’s photograph, sometimes alongside other well-known Australians.
- A copied news story supplies credibility. The link leads to a fake article or investment page, with invented quotes or a claim that Koch revealed a profitable trading secret.
- The visitor is asked to sign up or pay. A form may request contact details, followed by a request for a small initial deposit.
- Follow-up pressure seeks more. A supposed broker or platform may urge further deposits, request identity documents or ask the user to install remote-access software.
- Withdrawals become difficult. The site may delay or block withdrawals, or demand another payment described as a tax, verification charge or release fee.
An ABC report described a Queensland pensioner who saw a fake Facebook promotion featuring Koch and Dick Smith and took the presence of multiple familiar figures as reassurance. That is precisely the trap: recognizable faces and copied news design can lend an appearance of legitimacy to a false offer. ABC’s July 10, 2020 report recounts the case.
Other reported victims were separate cases
The A$30,000 loss discussed on Sunrise is not the same incident as the other losses reported around fake celebrity endorsements. Those accounts illustrate a wider pattern, but do not establish that one app or criminal group caused every loss.
Rank #3
| Report | What was reported |
|---|---|
| First three months of 2021 | NSW authorities recorded 423 reports of fake celebrity-endorsement scams; one man reportedly lost A$102,000 after seeing a Facebook ad falsely associated with Koch. 7NEWS report. |
| January 2023 | A Western Australian woman said she lost A$150,000 after an email and fake crypto advertisement falsely presented Koch as an investor. 7NEWS report. |
Why the ads can look convincing
- Familiar people lower suspicion. Seeing more than one public figure can make a promotion seem independently endorsed, even when all the images were copied without permission.
- Fake media presentation imitates reporting. A headline, television logo, fabricated interview or testimonial is not proof that a broadcaster published or verified the story.
- A small first payment can feel low-risk. It may be the opening step in a sequence of requests for larger deposits.
- Professional design is easy to copy. A site can look polished while its operator, claimed regulator or promised withdrawal process is unverified.
ASIC has warned about fraudulent schemes marketed under names including Bitcoin Evolution, Bitcoin Revolution and Bitcoin Trader. Naming those examples does not establish that every service using a similar name is the same operation; campaigns can change brands, domains and logos. Read ASIC’s consumer warning rather than relying on a promoter’s own claims.
How to check a supposed celebrity endorsement
- Search the person’s verified official channels for a matching announcement. If an endorsement cannot be found there, do not treat the ad as genuine.
- Check the broadcaster’s official site or program channels, not a page reached through the ad. A claim that a presenter “revealed” a secret investment should be independently searchable in a genuine broadcast.
- Read the address bar carefully. Lookalike domains, copied logos and fake “as seen on” marks are not evidence of an official connection.
- Ignore testimonials, comments, countdown clocks and claims of government approval as proof. Verify the legal company, jurisdiction, regulator and withdrawal terms independently.
- Check any claimed regulatory status on the regulator’s own register, reached independently rather than through a link provided by the promoter. Registration is not a guarantee against loss or fraud.
- Treat video and audio cautiously. Edited footage, cloned voices and synthetic media can make an invented endorsement appear more convincing.
What to do if you clicked, paid or shared information
- Stop contact and do not send more. Do not pay a further “tax,” withdrawal, release or verification charge. Do not click the ad again or share additional information with the promoter.
- Call your bank or card provider promptly. Explain that you may have been scammed and ask whether a transfer, card payment or direct debit can be stopped, recalled or disputed. Speed matters, but recovery is not guaranteed.
- Secure your accounts. Change any password you gave the site, especially if it was reused elsewhere, and enable multi-factor authentication. If you supplied identity documents, ask relevant institutions what protective steps they recommend.
- Deal with remote access safely. If you installed remote-access software at the promoter’s request, disconnect the device from the internet, remove the software and get qualified technical help before using the device for banking again.
- Keep evidence. Save screenshots, emails, phone numbers, chat logs, receipts, website addresses, wallet addresses and transaction IDs. Do not delete messages that may help your bank or investigators.
- Report the scam through official Australian channels. Provide the evidence to the relevant scam-reporting and law-enforcement services, as well as the platform where you saw the ad.
- Reject paid recovery promises. People who have lost money can be targeted again by supposed recovery agents demanding an upfront fee. Do not assume a commercial service can retrieve cryptocurrency or reverse a transfer.
For anyone considering an investment, check the provider independently and use legitimate services rather than links in an ad. AUSTRAC registration is not a safety endorsement and cannot guarantee that an investment, website or person will protect your money.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The impersonation continued beyond crypto ads
The later campaigns were not all the same as the 2022 crypto promotion. In 2023, ads falsely claiming Koch had died circulated online; subsequent reporting also discussed how artificial-intelligence tools can create convincing digital likenesses. These later examples show the broader impersonation risk, but do not establish that the specific 2022 ad used a deepfake. The Guardian reported on the false-death ads.
Broadcasters also raised concerns about responses to scam advertisements using television personalities. Free TV’s parliamentary submission described Koch’s image among fake celebrity endorsements used to lure people into Bitcoin investments and raised concerns about takedown delays; the submission is available from Parliament. The Guardian reported on Australian networks’ criticism of Meta’s handling of scam ads. An ad appearing on a platform is not, by itself, proof that the platform created the scam or knew it was fraudulent. The Guardian’s report covers the networks’ concerns.
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