Martin Lewis, the consumer protection specialist, broadcaster, and anti-scam campaigner, has today been named the 2026 recipient of the Ockham Award for Skeptical Activism by The Skeptic magazine.
Lewis, who was once named the most trusted man in Britain, founded Money Saving Expert in 2003, growing it to become the UK’s biggest and most prominent website for consumer help. His ITV prime-time series, The Martin Lewis Money Show, began in 2012 and is now UK television’s most watched current affairs series, providing invaluable consumer advice in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, and winning the BAFTA special award for television earlier this year.Â
Alongside his TV show, Lewis has held a weekly expert slot on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, and in 2023 became a regular guest presenter. He is also a resident expert for ITV’s This Morning, and the host of BBC Radio 5 Live’s Ask Martin, where he helps hundreds of thousands of viewers with consumer protection advice.
In 2016, Lewis founded the Money & Mental Health Policy Institute charity, which he still chairs and funds. Earlier this year, it was given the power to raise super-complaints to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), on behalf of consumers. He also founded the MSE Charity, which gives grants to small charities involved in consumer education and empowerment.
Most recently, after his likeness was used in a series of AI social media ads for cryptocurrency investment scams, Lewis launched a campaigning lawsuit against Facebook, in order to stop it publishing thousands of fake scam ads that target vulnerable people. To settle the case, Facebook agreed to donate £3 million to set up the new Citizens Advice Scams Action project and to add a ‘scam ads’ reporting button to Facebook UK – the first of its kind in the world.
On the decision to give Lewis the 2026 Ockham award, Michael Marshall, editor of The Skeptic, said: “Skepticism isn’t just about exposing pseudoscience or conspiracy theories – it’s also about arming people with the tools to think critically, and protecting them from exploitation. For over a decade, few in the UK have done more to educate the public on their consumer protection rights, and bring accountability to those who seek to take financial advantage of the vulnerable.
“His campaign shedding light on the blight of AI-generated deepfake social media ads and the cryptocurrency scams they promote is a perfect example of how to use a sizeable platform and a well-earned reputation for trust in order to benefit the public and help prevent them from being exploited.
“For standing up for the rights of the consumer and taking on those who seek to take advantage of the vulnerable – from scammers with fake ads to the social media platforms that allow them to flourish – Martin Lewis is a very worthy recipient of the 2026 Ockham Award for Skeptical Activism.”
The ‘Skeptical Activism’ award was announced as part of The Skeptic’s annual Ockham Awards at a ceremony that took place during Saturday’s European Skeptics Congress in Liverpool. Also awarded during the event was the 2026 Rusty Razor award for pseudoscience, which went to Toby Young and the Daily Sceptic.
