The doctored image of Irwin in handcuffs accompanies a fake news article, headlined “Is this the end of his career? Robert Irwin didn’t know the camera was still recording.” The story claims that a bank has filed a lawsuit against the late Steve Irwin’s son about comments he made about a trading platform called Trade iPlex 100, during an episode of The Cheap Seats. In the article, Irwin promises to make Australians rich with cryptocurrency investments, if they invest $375 with the trading platform. The claims are fake, and Irwin is not affiliated with the platform mentioned. However, there are fears that the TV personality’s devoted fan base could fall victim to the scam, which fleeced more than $8 million from Australians last year. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has warned everyone to be hyper-vigilant when online, with scammers becoming more elaborate. “We are urging Australians to take their time and do their research before taking up an investment opportunity – particularly those seen on social media,” deputy chair Catriona Lowe said.

“Scammers are creating fake news articles and deep fake videos to convince people that celebrities and well-known public figures are making huge sums of money using online investment trading platforms, when in fact it is a scam.”