Alex Wood

Alex Wood is a leading Cybercrime, Social Engineering, Counter Fraud and GenAI Speaker

Alex's early career was in the music industry. Aged 13 he began to tour the world as a violin soloist and performed under the greatest conductors of the modern era. He was awarded prestigious scholarships to attend the Purcell School, the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, won an array of prizes along the way and became a regular guest at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

Aged 24 his career was abruptly halted by the onset of repetitive strain injury (RSI) in his right hand and faced with mounting debts and no source of income, his criminal career began. His life spiralled out of control, culminating in several years spent in prison for a number of dishonesty offences - everything from impersonating the 13th Duke of Marlborough to committing multi-million pound cyber-crime.

“I barely heard the judge’s words when he sentenced me to seven years. I felt like the most disgusting person on this planet. How could I have inflicted such unthinkable, irreparable pain and grief upon an innocent man and the business he and his family had worked tirelessly to build?”

As Alex Wood listened to the victim impact statements during his final sentencing hearing, so began his redemption journey. Since his release from jail in early 2022 Alex has turned his life around and become an immensely powerful force in the Counter Fraud profession.

Since making his speaking debut February 2023 (where he delivered a Keynote Speech at Counter Fraud 2023, organised by the Cabinet Office, the Public Sector Fraud Authority and GovNet) Alex has become a prominent public and motivational speaker, delivering dozens of speeches across the UK and throughout the rest of the world.

Alex is a regular guest on mainstream television and radio. In October 2023 Alex was featured on BBC Radio 4 (File on 4) and is a frequent contributor to the Vanessa Feltz show on Talk TV.

In addition to Public Sector speaking, Alex consults for leading global financial institutions (including multiple Tier 1 banks, insurance providers, law firms and risk experts) so as to enable a deep understanding of the ‘Fraud Mindset’ as well as sophisticated ‘Social Engineering’ techniques and the threat of emerging technology (including Generative AI).

Alex is working on a national strategy, in partnership with banks, lawyers, Police forces and Government in order to educate children about the risks of involvement in mule activity.

While in prison, Alex was signed by the world-leading literary agent Andrew Lownie. His story is now the subject of a major documentary (in production) by the renowned film makers Chris Atkins and Louis Theroux (Mindhouse Productions).

In March 2024 Alex was appointed as a Board Advisor by Appella AI and is helping them to create revolutionary disruptive technology to enable the interception of fraudulent telephone calls before they can be connected to a potential victim.

Alex is exclusively represented by Sara Butler at SCAMP Speakers.