The Australian Digital Health Agency has issued a warning to Hunter residents about a weight loss scam circulating on social media.
The adverts spruik a miracle cure suggesting people can lose 45 kilograms with one teaspoon of a so-called supplement.
Using the My Health Record Logo on Meta (formerly Facebook), the ads are both misleading and unsolicited.
Chief clinical adviser Dr Steve Hambleton says the scammers had misused the Agency’s logo in the ads.
“This is a nonsense,” he said.
“Government agencies don’t lend their logos to companies and My Health Record is a trusted brand, hence our warning.”
Crikey has reported the ads have run through new, small Facebook pages that are barebones but for the advertisement, registered with names like “Wealth” and Personal variety.
The ads apparently all link to similarly formatted websites, despite each being hosted on different domains.
None of the websites have a name or organisation listed as part of its registration records, but two claim to be registered from Iceland.
Dr Hambleton says scammers are insidious and looking to profit from people’s vulnerabilities.
“The use of the trusted My Health Record logo is cause for concern,” he said.
“Don’t fall for this scam.”
Crikey also reported that Meta responded to them to say the ads and pages have been removed for breaching their policies on impersonating others to scam users.
For more stories like this:
- Hunter among top five scamming postcodes
- Scammers cost Newcastle woman $100,000 windfall
- Beware SMS scam threatens Hunter Telstra users
- Australians lose $139m to scammers in six months
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