Celeb endorsement scams spike: ‘My name was being used to lure in unsuspecting victims’
There’s been a major spike in the number of Australians being duped by celebrity endorsement scams.
So far this year, the ACCC has received almost 200 reports of products which are faking celebrity endorsements.
That’s a 400 per cent increase in the previous year.
Deborah Knight says she’s been caught up in the scam that’s stolen money from vulnerable Australians.
“I discovered earlier this year that my name was being used, my image as well, in hoax news articles being shared on Facebook.”
The article claimed readers could get a sample of new face cream, endorsed by Deborah, if they coughed up their credit card details.
“My name was being used to lure in unsuspecting victims,” she says.
ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard tells Deborah the public needs to exercise caution on the internet but they’re calling on digital platforms to do more to protect consumers.
“We’re getting the message out there right now about how these scams work, how to identify them and how to avoid them.
“We’re also in the process of communicating with Facebook and Google around our expectations that they will do more to stop these scams coming.”
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