Fake celebrity endorsements ripping off Aussies $142,000
ROCKETING numbers of Australians are being duped by criminals illegally using images of popular celebrities to swindle them out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. From actor Cate Blanchett to radio shock-jock Kyle Sandilands, see what other celebrities have been used.
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ROCKETING numbers of Australians are being duped by criminals illegally using images of popular celebrities to swindle them out of almost $150,000.
From the wonders of Cate Blanchett’s anti-ageing lotion to Eddie McGuire’s erectile dysfunction pills and Sonia Kruger’s face cream, everyday punters are being ripped off by unscrupulous conmen.
And since the start of the year the number of Aussies being ripped off by these fake celebrity endorsement scams have spiked an astonishing 400 per cent. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC’s) Scamwatch website receiving almost 200 reports this year with losses totalling $142,000.
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Women are more likely than men to be duped and people aged 45 years and older account for 63 per cent of the losses.
The scams often appear on social media platforms as online advertisements or promotional stories, and use the image and in some cases fake quotes from a celebrity to give credibility to the product being spruiked.
Victims then hand over their credit card details to sign up for a “free trial” of the product, which either never turns up or has tough contract terms which are difficult to back out of.
ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said most people targeted this year have lost between $100 and $500, but one unlucky victim was conned out of more than $50,000.
She pointed the finger of blame at Facebook and Google, saying they the tech giants were not diligent enough.
“Most of the reports to Scamwatch involve these scam advertisements running on Google ad banners or as ads in Facebook news feeds,” Ms Rickard said.
“These tech giants must do more to quickly suspend ads, as every time consumers click on a scam ad, they are at risk of losing money.”
One of the most recent examples of the celebrity scan involves Channel 9 star Kruger, whose image appeared in a number adverts for a facial cream.
“It’s a relief to see the ACCC step in with regards to this issue,” she told The Daily Telegraph. “It’s very concerning that Australians are being duped into parting with their hard-earned money on the false belief that these products have been endorsed by Australian celebrities. Facebook and Google should block these ads.”
A Google spokeswoman said advertisements that violated its policies would be removed while Facebook Australia and New Zealand’s head of communications Antonia Sanda said false and misleading ads are not allowed on the platform.
“From January to March 2018 we took down 837 million pieces of spam, nearly 100 per cent of which we found and flagged before anyone reported it,” she said.
“We also disabled about 583 million fake accounts — most of which were disabled within minutes of registration.”