An organized network operating from the former Soviet state of Georgia has scammed thousands of savers from the UK, Europe, and Canada out of $35 million after they fell for fake celebrity adverts on Facebook and Google that the government promised to outlaw three years ago, reports The Guardian.

Deepfake videos and fictional news reports featuring the money expert Martin Lewis, the radio DJ Zoe Ball and the adventurer Ben Fogle were used to promote fraudulent cryptocurrency and other investment schemes. The scammers are understood to have still been contacting victims in recent weeks.

UK citizens were the hardest hit, accounting for a third–about £9 million–of the money taken.

The fraud was exposed by a huge leak of scam call centre data to the Swedish public broadcaster SVT, which then shared the files with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Guardian and other international reporting partners.

The UK government has introduced a new set of laws aimed at protecting children and adults online. However, while the online safety act has been passed into law and scam posts could soon prompt fines, the sections relating to fraudulent advertising by organizations are not expected to become active until next year.