Posts shared online falsely claim the online bank Monzo has “officially” launched its own online slots platform.
A spokesperson for Monzo has confirmed that this is not a genuine casino site from the company and said the posts were allowing individuals to “take advantage of our much-loved brand to trick people”.
The posts often use the real Monzo logo to give the false impression that the business has launched its own casino. However, none of them link to the company’s real website.
One post uses an image of a woman holding a large cheque in front of a ‘Monzo slots’ stand, which flags in OpenAI’s detector as containing SynthID—an invisible watermark that indicates they were created or edited using AI tools.
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At the time of writing there are also several sponsored ads active on Facebook and Instagram from accounts which falsely use the Monzo brand to promote the gambling sites.
This includes a video which is very likely AI-generated, which appears to show a person behind the camera chasing a woman before asking “Do you have Monzo?” and then “Have you actually tried Monzo slots or have you only heard about it?” Posts then claim various bonuses are available only for the next hour.
Other promotional videos seen by Full Fact, which follow similar scripts and promote the same £420 bonus, also have hallmark features of AI-generated content, including nonsense text and distorted background characters.
Recent reporting from the Guardian has highlighted the fact that Monzo, alongside a number of other household brands, have had their likeness used without permission to falsely promote online gambling sites.
If an online deal seems too good to be true, it is always worth checking if it has been shared on the company’s official, verified channels.
