‘Yeah, you’ve been scammed’: Nova’s Lauren Phillips fumes at insane cost of influencer-driven exotic treat trend

Nova breakfast radio host Lauren Phillips fell victim to an infuriating influencer scam when she was stung an insane amount for a viral treat.

Nova breakfast host Lauren Phillips has claimed she was ‘scammed’ after following an exotic treat influencer trend. Picture: Supplied

Nova breakfast host Lauren Phillips has claimed she was ‘scammed’ after following an exotic treat influencer trend.

Phillips, swayed by the saturation of social media content about ‘Dubai Chocolate’, bought a small golden block of the sweet in South Yarra last week for an eye watering $40.

Less than an hour later when at a different shopping strip, she found another brand of the chocolate for $25.

A colleague then told her she could have got it for $11.

Phillips, swayed by the saturation of social media content about ‘Dubai Chocolate’, bought a small golden block of the sweet in South Yarra.

Nova breakfast hosts Jase Hawkins, Lauren Phillips and Clint Stanaway are playing their Hide & Seek game with listeners again in June 2025. Picture: Supplied/Nova

“Then I got a message from a friend of mine who works in Dubai saying, ‘Oh no, you’ve bought the fake one, this is the one you need. This is the one from Dubai’,” Phillips said.

“I said, ‘Did I get scammed?’ He goes, ‘Yeah, you’ve been scammed.’

“There are so many fakes out there.”

Fake or not, Phillips will need to stock up on her snack stash when she and her co-hosts Jase Hawkins and Clint Stanaway “get lost” for Nova’s annual Hide & Seek listener promotion.

The breakfast trio will go into hiding at a secret Melbourne location in the coming days and up to $250,000 is up for grabs for Nova listener who pieces together the clues and finds their lair.

“Here we go again… locked in a mystery room with Lauren and Clint. The cash is great,

but freedom is even better. Melbourne, save us,” Hawkins said.