Is Quantum AI Legit? The Deepfake Trading Scam Explained

Quantum AI is a crypto "AI trading platform" that regulators in the UK and Ireland have publicly warned against, promoted through deepfake videos of famous people and fake news articles. The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) lists it as an unauthorised firm, and the Central Bank of Ireland said on 2 December 2024 that it "uses AI-generated deepfake videos, fake newspaper articles and photos of high-profile people through social media to deceive the public into believing that this fraudulent entity is legitimate." In Malaysia, police warned in March 2025 about a Facebook ad using fake videos of Elon Musk and MP Teresa Kok to push the "Quantum AI" platform.

So, is Quantum AI legit? No regulator we checked has authorised it, the endorsements in its ads are fabricated, and security researchers have traced it to hundreds of throwaway websites. It is not the same thing as Google Quantum AI, the real research lab, which sells no trading product.

Here is how it usually reaches someone. You are scrolling Facebook after a long shift. A video plays: a prime minister, or Elon Musk, looks into the camera and says a new government-backed AI can turn a small deposit into a monthly income. The lips move a little oddly, but the voice is right and the clip looks like a news broadcast. The link takes you to what looks like a newspaper article. You leave your phone number "to learn more". Within the hour, a friendly "account manager" calls.

If you have bills that will not wait and a salary that has not moved in years, that call is designed for you. It feels like the break you have been waiting for. The evidence below shows why it is the opposite, and how to check any trading platform in five minutes before you send a cent.

Key facts about Quantum AI

Is Quantum AI real or a scam? What the regulators say

Two national financial regulators have named Quantum AI directly.

The UK's FCA keeps a public Warning List of firms it believes are dealing with UK consumers without permission. The Quantum AI entry says: "This firm may be providing or promoting financial services or products without our permission. You should avoid dealing with this firm and beware of scams." It lists a "UK Office" for Quantum AI at 35 John Street, Luton, and warns that such firms "may give incorrect contact details" and "may also give you details that belong to another business or individual, so the information looks genuine." The FCA spells out what that means for you: no Financial Ombudsman Service if you want to complain, and no Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the money disappears.

The Central Bank of Ireland issued its warning notice on 2 December 2024. It says Quantum AI "claims to provide cryptocurrency trading services with its underlying artificial intelligence (AI) technology", is not registered to provide those services in Ireland, and "uses AI-generated deepfake videos, fake newspaper articles and photos of high-profile people through social media to deceive the public into believing that this fraudulent entity is legitimate and to promote the activity of Quantum AI."

Notice what the Central Bank of Ireland called it: a "fraudulent entity". Regulators rarely use language that strong in a public notice.

In Malaysia, the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) raised the alarm in March 2025. The director of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department at Bukit Aman, Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf, said a Facebook ad showed Tesla's Elon Musk and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok "purportedly discussing the benefits of the scheme." He said: "we are confident that the footage of both individuals is fake and was generated using 'deepfake' technology to deceive potential victims." Based on the Facebook page the ad linked to, "the scheme operates on a platform called 'Quantum AI'," he said, as reported by Free Malaysia Today and The Star on 6 March 2025.

What about the Anwar Ibrahim video?

Many Malaysians search "quantum ai anwar", so here is what the record shows. On 12 March 2025, Bernama, via Malay Mail, reported that police had detected five deepfake investment videos circulating since 2024. The most recent showed US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Others showed Petronas senior management, Musk and Teresa Kok. "The videos portray these figures inviting the public to join investment schemes allegedly endorsed by the Malaysian government, promising returns of up to 100 times," the police director said. "Although promoted on various platforms, it is believed they were produced by the same syndicate to mislead victims."

To be precise: the police statement we found names the Quantum AI platform only for the Musk and Teresa Kok ad. It links the Anwar video to the same suspected syndicate, without naming the platform it pushed. Either way, the Prime Minister is not endorsing an AI trading app, and no Malaysian government body has approved one.

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) said in the same report that these postings usually carry a "Learn More" button leading to a page that collects your personal details, and that people "will also be asked to download an application, which could expose them to cybercrime risks." The SC said it was working with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to remove such videos.

How the deepfakes are made, and how far they spread

The most detailed public study comes from Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 threat research team, published on 29 August 2024. The team started with the Quantum AI campaign and followed its infrastructure.

What they found:

• Real footage, fake words. "In most cases, the attackers appear to have started with a legitimate video and added on their own AI-generated audio," then used lip-syncing tools to make the speaker's mouth match.
• One favourite face. "Most of the videos use Elon Musk as their celebrity of choice." In one, a deepfake Musk claims Quantum AI is the "world's first quantum computing software developed by his team with a success rate of 91%." Others used Tucker Carlson, Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
• Hundreds of websites. "As of June 2024, we had discovered hundreds of domains being used to promote these campaigns. Each domain has been accessed an average of 114,000 times." The sites stayed up an average of 142 days. Many had names like quantumai[.]tools, thequantumai[.]org and qvantum-ai[.]tech, alongside random ones.
• One group, many countries. The same infrastructure served deepfake scams in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Turkish, Czech and Russian, each aimed at one country, with the leader or business figure that country trusts. Unit 42 concluded these "can most likely be attributed to a single threat actor group."

The same playbook has reached other countries under the Quantum AI name, with the local leader swapped in. Whatever face is in your feed, the script is the same.

The money machine: how Quantum AI takes your money

Unit 42 described the sequence step by step, citing Australia's National Anti-Scam Centre for the first stage. Put together with the Malaysian police account, it runs like this.

1. The ad. A sponsored post or video on social media, often styled as a news report, with a public figure "announcing" the platform. In Malaysia, the ad claimed the scheme had government approval.
2. The fake article. The link leads to a page dressed as a real newspaper, with the celebrity "story" and a sign-up form.
3. The form. Name, email, phone number. "Interested individuals are prompted to enter their name, email, and phone number, after which the scheme's organisers will contact them for further steps," the PDRM said.
4. The call. A caller, often presented as an account manager, tells you to pay "around $250 to access the platform," according to Unit 42.
5. The app. You are told to download an app or log in to a dashboard so you can "invest" more. The dashboard shows small profits.
6. The bait withdrawal. "The scammers continue persuading the victim to deposit more of their money and may even allow the victim to withdraw a small amount of money as a way to gain trust."
7. The wall. "When the victim tries to withdraw their funds, the scammers either demand withdrawal fees, or cite some other reason (e.g., tax issues) for not being able to get their funds back. The scammers may then lock the victim out of their account."

Step 6 is the clever part. A small payout feels like proof, so people send more. The first $250 was never the real target. The account manager's job is to find out how much more you can raise.

Who is behind Quantum AI?

Nobody has been publicly identified. Here is what the record supports.

• No named company or person. Neither the FCA nor the Central Bank of Ireland names an operator, and the FCA warns that the contact details such firms give may be false or may belong to an unrelated business.
• A suspected single group. Unit 42 thinks one threat actor group runs many of the campaigns, based on shared video-hosting domains, similar pages and the same calls to action.
• Hidden hosting. Unit 42 found 86.7% of the campaign domains sat behind the same content delivery network, with servers in the US, the Netherlands and Russia, which "makes it difficult to attribute the campaign to a particular threat actor or geolocation."
• A suspected syndicate in Malaysia. Malaysian police said the deepfake videos they found were "believed" to be from the same syndicate.

The people in the videos are victims too. Their faces and voices were used without permission. Nothing in the record suggests any of them had anything to do with Quantum AI.

Is Quantum AI the same as Google Quantum AI?

No. Google Quantum AI is Google's quantum computing research lab. It does not take deposits or trade for customers. The scam borrows two words that sound advanced, "quantum" and "AI", because most people cannot check what they mean. A real quantum computer is a research machine in a lab. Nobody is renting one out to trade your $250.

Red flags you can check in five minutes

Use this list on Quantum AI, and on whatever it is renamed to next month.

1. Search the regulator's warning list. UK: the FCA Warning List. Ireland: the Central Bank's warning notices. Malaysia: the Securities Commission's Investor Alert List. If the name appears, stop.
2. Search the authorised register. A licence you can find on the regulator's own site is the minimum. A badge or certificate on the firm's own website proves nothing.
3. Look for a celebrity. Real politicians and billionaires do not advertise trading apps in social media ads. Check the person's official accounts or a local fact-check. In Malaysia, police and The Star's fact check both confirmed the Musk and Teresa Kok clips were fake.
4. Watch the mouth, not the face. These videos are real footage with new audio and a lip-sync edit, as Unit 42 found, so the mouth is the part most likely to look slightly wrong against the sound. A convincing clip still proves nothing, so use the other checks too.
5. Check the domain age. A WHOIS lookup on the website will show when it was registered. A "trading platform" registered weeks ago is a throwaway site.
6. Count the promises. "Guaranteed" returns, "up to 100 times", "RM100,000 a month", "91% success rate". Any fixed promise of profit from trading is false, because markets do not guarantee anything.
7. Never install an app a caller sends you. The SC warns these downloads can expose you to cybercrime. Remote-access apps let a stranger see and use your phone.
8. Treat a fee to withdraw as the end. If you are told to pay tax, a release fee or a "verification deposit" to get your money out, you are being asked to pay twice.

If you already sent money

1. Stop paying. No further deposit will release earlier funds.
2. Call your bank or card issuer now and ask about stopping or disputing the payment. Speed matters.
3. Report it. In Malaysia, call the National Scam Response Centre on 997. In the UK, contact your bank and report to the FCA on 0800 111 6768, the number on its warning page. Elsewhere, report to your financial regulator and police.
4. Beware the second call. People who lost money are often contacted by "recovery" firms that promise to get it back for a fee. That is usually the same scam, run again.

What to do instead if you want to trade crypto

Trading is a real, legal and very risky activity. The honest version has none of the features above. The site's crypto trading guide is blunt that the minimum income is zero and recommends starting with one asset and small automated buys. If you want to copy other traders, 7 Best Crypto Copy Trading Platforms in 2026 (Ranked) compares platforms run by known exchanges, which you can look up on a regulator's register before you deposit. The Traders Domain case study shows what happens when a pooled trading account skips that register.

For how AI-generated people are being used in marketing more widely, including the honest way to do it, see AI Influencer: What It Is, How It Earns, and the Rules (2026).

The money you were going to send is real. Maybe it is a month of rent, or what you set aside for your children's school fees. Keep it where it is tonight. Next week, look up one licensed platform on your regulator's own register, read its fees, and put in an amount you could lose without telling anyone. That small, boring step is how people who trade for years begin. The people who sent $250 to a deepfake usually do not get a second chance with that money.