Online shoppers warned of ‘dangerous’ weight-loss scam as ‘ghost stores’ impersonate real people to sell Ozempic-like treatments | Scams

As Australian enterprises expand the advertising of algum -like weight loss treatments, online “Ghost Stores” mimic real people, including a well -known dietician to recommend their products.

Guardian Australia, who claims to have Australian fashion retailers who provide a public warning from the consumer regulator, has determined a new scam, aiming to lose weight.

Consumer experts say that the deception is dangerous, because while going beyond the financial risk and threatening people’s health, Dietitian Lyndi Cohen says that his image will never approve of a product that will never approve of Spruik.

In an example, a Facebook page called “Emma Davis an, which claims to be“ diabetes care and weight management expert team in the new Southern Wales, published advertisements for a product that he claims to be “GLP-1-based oral solution”.

GLP-1 is a naturally formed hormone that helps to regulate blood sugar levels and appetite in the body.

Following the explosion of popularity of drugs such as Özempic and Mounjaro, it became easy to order supplements, patches and pills that claim to mimic the GLP-1 stimulating effects from even reputable suppliers.

In the advertisement, it was apparently a reference to the “Helen, 68, Sydney ği, which sees the product as one of the best gifts I have given myself for years. The promotion used a number of “front and later photos” that appeared by AI.

For people with “great appetite”, he had detailed claims that he said it was “perfect” or “GLP-1 drops or injections without too much results.

The comments section was full of hopeful messages and shining references that seemed to be Australian women.

However, the details of his profiles told a different story.

A reverse image search claimed that they were fake and that they were stolen from real women, including the Polish war reporter Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska.

Pikulicka-Wilczewska confirmed that it was an image and that it was used in this way. Guardian said to Australia with an e -mail, “Obviously, the account should remove ASAP and not use it again.”

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Apparently, another profile of a middle -aged blonde from Canberra used photos of three women, including a guest columnist in a local newspaper in Ohio and a well -known US TV server. Guardian Australia asked for comments from both of these women and contacted fake profiles.

Advertising connected to the Maementcurves.com website which is still active from Friday– despite Guardian Australia was seen to be removed after contacting the site after contacting the site.

The site claimed that the “STEI GLP-1 weight loss Oral Liquid” product was made in Australia and that although Aliexpress, Ebay and other “Ghost Stores”, it was developed by a local family business.

Fake profiles and reviews ‘especially insidious’

Maementcurves.com, which depicts itself as Australian, claimed that the treatment saved even a customer who was approved by Lyndi Cohen, one of the leading dietitians of Australia, which is “serious obese and close to death ve and was“ especially Australia’s leading dietitians.

Cohen said that Guardian Australia is aware of the site and its similarity was “harassed and represented wrong”.

“We sent them a letter of stopping and giving up. We haven’t heard back. For me, the challenge: I don’t know how to move,” he said.

“Somehow it sounds like international waters, no judicial authority. Who is the duty to check and manage it?”

Guardian Australia purchased the product for $ 46 on 23 July using PayPal. No transport notification was sent as of Thursday. Paypal receipt showed that the payment was made to an organization called Altrix Limited, where Guardian Australia contacted for comment.

Altrix Limited is located in Hong Kong. But it is also the name of a British company according to the records of British companies. The Maementcurves.com website depends on the presence of another Hong Kong called Lanee Limited, which shares its name with a galli company resolved in 2023.

PayPal agreed that online sellers could not confirm their identities except Australia, while customers who were defrauded called on the platform to help the victims of deception.

On Thursday, a spokesman said it was “zero tolerance için for the fraudulent event on Paypal’s platform. “Our teams work without getting tired to protect our customers,” he said. “In accordance with PayPal’s BUYER PROTECTION policy, we will return all the purchasing price and original shipping fees for appropriate requests.”

Stephen Nowki, the Legal Application Director of the Consumer Action Law Center, said that the use of fake profiles and false investigations is “especially insidious ve and that digital platforms should be held responsible.

“Platforms are important because these ads do not prevent these fake advertisements because they continue to benefit from the damages caused by consumers,” he said. “According to our opinion, banks have the obligation to determine the deception accounts that receive these payments and block them or mark them with consumers.”

Candni Gupta, Assistant General Manager of Consumer Policy Research Center, said that following every misleading profile or a ghost store would be like a “endless whey-mol”.

“A more systemic approach is what is needed, and digital platforms start with holding responsible for taking real responsibility to feed such profiles in the first place,” he said.

The lawyers had previously called on Shopify and Meta to take responsibility to make such a website possible and allow them to carry out wrong ads.

The Australian Competition and the Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced last month that they called themselves to act on the problem of ghost stores and put the platforms for notification.

Guardian understands that Australia ACCC received response from Meta and Shopify. A regulatory spokesman said that the scamwatch should be notified to evaluate whether the scam websites will be downloaded.

Meta refused to comment. The Canadian Multinational E-Commerce Platform Shopify, headed by Tobias Lücke, did not respond to repeated comments.