Annette Sharp: Dr Charlie Teo’s picture used by unscrupulous advertisers

Scammers have inadvertently declared Teo one of Australia’s most trusted celebrities by hijacking his image to promote their suspect money-making ventures, writes Annette Sharp.

Embattled neurosurgeon Charlie Teo has officially joined the ranks of the nation’s most trusted celebrities.

Scammers have inadvertently declared Teo thus by hijacking his image to promote their suspect money-making ventures.

Teo has joined the nation’s best loved and most recognised celebrities — among them David Koch, Lisa Wilkinson, Maggie Beer, Waleed Aly and Manu Feildel — in having his unauthorised image appropriated by online scammers.

Teo’s torso — showing him in blue surgical scrubs — has been doing the rounds to target unsuspecting social media users with a fake health advertisement.

The ads appeal to consumers: “If you have high blood pressure, please read this...” A second ad targets readers who have had chemotherapy.

Charlie Teo is the latest celebrity whose image is being used by online scammers. Picture: Instagram

A spokesman for Teo said the ads were a scam and urged social media users not to click through on them.

Earlier this year a healthcare professional standards committee found Teo guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct over the treatment of two patients on whom he operated in 2018 and 2019.

The surgeon, who many more credit with saving their lives, denied any wrongdoing, but media coverage of the case made him one of the most famous doctors in the country.

NEW SILVERCHAIR BLUE

Singer Daniel Johns managed to entangle his own former record company Sony Music — and ABC presenter Leigh Sales — in new drama last week when he vetoed the use of clips from Silverchair’s back catalogue in a two-part episode of Australian Story.

Daniel Johns (L to R), Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou have no plans to get Silverchair back together. Picture: Getty

The program featured Johns’s former Silverchair bandmates, Ben GiIlies and Chris Joannou, who have released a book, Love & Pain, about the band and its bitter break-up with Johns.

Because Johns was not granted access to a preview copy of the book, he refused to participate in the program or sign off on video rights from when the band was with Sony.

This left the ABC and Sales, who had posted to Instagram telling viewers the first episode featuring some disputed video clips would not appear on iview, having to delete the post after the ABC proceeded with the upload.

The TV broadcaster later deleted the first episode following an approach from Sony, which was also left red-faced by the negative publicity.

In a long post, Johns told his Instagram audience the matter could have been easily resolved had Gillies and Joannou provided him with an advance copy of the book, but given the fractured relationship between the three men, such an offering seems unlikely.

ERICA UP IN THE BEL AIR

The decision by James Packer to list his Beverly Hills mansion for $85 million has raised questions about his ex-wife Erica’s plans for her LA property.

Packer has said he had little interest in keeping a home in LA if his kids aren’t going to be popping by.

After 10 years in LA, Erica this year uprooted the couple’s three kids and moved them to London.

The move has left one very chic six-bedroom property, acquired in 2014 for almost $15 million, dormant in Bel Air.

Erica looks to be in no hurry to offload the home, which offers a warm refuge from the British chill.

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