This sort of thing has always gone on. From the formation of the Economic league in 1919 through various anti-Union acts enacted by government and the secret service and with the full support of the banks. The establishment uses any power it has to silence what it perceives as a threat, and we've allowed it to happen.
I've no doubt there's a lot of dark money funding those grifters working amongst the brexiteers, the flagshaggers, the anti-vaxxers, the GC movement etc but I can't see how it's any worse than what passes through Tufton street, or the "lobbying" and cash for access that's endemic in our parliament or the monstrous sums of money laundered by our banks.
Meanwhile, we sit by as our rights are whittled away, our environmental protections binned, our food standards trashed & our public services stripped of cash as it's funneled into private hands.
Not a single major party has indicated they have any intention of reversing this trend, so yes, we should be afraid when instead we're distracted by culture war nonsense, consumerism & the Royal soap opera.