Online “ghost stores” masquerading as Australian businesses have expanded into advertising Ozempic-like weight loss treatments, and are impersonating real people, including a well-known dietitian, to recommend their products.
After uncovering more than 140 sites falsely claiming to be Australian fashion retailers that prompted a public warning from the consumer regulator, Guardian Australia has identified a new scam that targets people trying to lose weight.
Consumer experts say the scam is dangerous, because it goes beyond financial risk and threatens people’s health, while dietitian Lyndi Cohen says her image has been used without her consent to spruik a product she would never endorse.
In one example, a Facebook page called “Emma Davis”, which claimed to be a “team of specialist in diabetes care and weight management” based in New South Wales, ran advertising for a product it claimed was a “GLP-1 plant based oral solution”.
GLP-1 is a naturally occurring hormone in the body that helps regulate blood sugar levels and appetite.
Following the explosion in popularity of drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro, it has become easy to order supplements, patches and pills online that claim to mimic their GLP-1 stimulating effects – even from reputable suppliers.
The ad featured a testimonial signed off “Helen, 68, Sydney” who apparently considered the product to be “one of the best gifts I’ve given myself in years”. The promotion used a series of “before and after photos” which appeared to be AI-generated.
It included detailed claims about the product, which it said was “perfect” for people with “big appetites” or “anyone who’s tried GLP-1 drops or injections without much result”.
The comments section was filled with hopeful messages and glowing testimonials, posted by what appeared to be Australian women.
But details in their profiles told a different story.
A reverse image search suggested they were fake and their pictures stolen from real women including, in one case, Polish war correspondent Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska, whose photo was used for a profile of Gold Coast woman “Isla Taylor”.
Pikulicka-Wilczewska confirmed it was her image and that she didn’t know it was being used in this way. “Obviously, the account in question should remove it asap and should not use it again,” she said in an email to Guardian Australia.
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Another profile, apparently that of a middle-aged blonde woman from Canberra, used photos of three women including a guest columnist at a local newspaper in Ohio and a well-known former US TV host. Guardian Australia sought comment from both of these women and contacted the fake profiles.
The ad linked to the website Maementcurves.com, which was still active as of Friday, although the page with the weight-loss products appeared to have been taken down after Guardian Australia contacted the site for comment.
The site claimed the product, “STDEI GLP-1 Weight Loss Oral Liquid”, was made in Australia and developed by a local, family-owned company, even though it is readily available elsewhere on the internet including on AliExpress, eBay and an array of other “ghost stores”.
Fake profiles and reviews ‘particularly insidious’
The Maementcurves.com site, portraying itself as Australian, claimed the treatment had even saved the life of a customer who had been “seriously obese and close to death” and was “especially endorsed by Lyndi Cohen, one of Australia’s leading dietitians”.
Cohen told Guardian Australia she was aware of the site and that her likeness was “being abused and misrepresented” to promote a product she would “obviously not endorse”.
“We sent them a cease and desist letter. We have not heard back. For me, the challenge is: I don’t know how to action it,” she said.
“It feels like international waters in a way, there’s no jurisdiction. Whose job is it to control and manage this?”
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Guardian Australia bought the product for $46 on 23 July, using PayPal. As of Thursday, no shipping notification had been sent. The PayPal receipt showed the payment was made to an entity called Altrix Limited, which Guardian Australia contacted for comment.
Altrix Limited appears to be based in Hong Kong. But it is also the name of an English company, according to the UK’s companies register. The Maementcurves.com website is linked to another Hong Kong entity called Lanee Limited, which shares its name with a Welsh company which was dissolved in 2023.
PayPal has previously conceded that it may not verify the identities of online sellers based outside Australia, while swindled customers have called for the platform to do more to help scam victims.
A spokesperson on Thursday said PayPal had “zero-tolerance” for fraudulent activity on its platform. “Our teams work tirelessly to protect our customers,” they said. “Under PayPal’s Buyer Protection Policy, we will refund the full purchase price plus the original shipping charges for eligible claims.”
The Consumer Action Law Centre’s legal practice director, Stephen Nowicki, said the use of fake profiles and fake reviews was “particularly insidious” and digital platforms should be held responsible.
“It is important platforms are penalised for failing to block these fake ads, as they continue to benefit from the harms these ads cause for consumers,” he said. “In our view banks also have an obligation to identify scam accounts receiving these payments and block or flag them with consumers.”
The deputy chief executive of the Consumer Policy Research Centre, Chandni Gupta, said pursuing each misleading profile or ghost store would be like “an endless whack-a-mole”.
“A more systemic approach is what’s needed and it starts with holding digital platforms accountable to take real responsibility for fuelling such profiles in the first place,” she said.
Advocates have previously called on Shopify and Meta to take responsibility for enabling this type of website and allowing them to run false advertising.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) last month put the platforms on notice after it publicly announced it had written to them urging them to act on the ghost stores issue.
Guardian Australia understands the ACCC has received responses from Meta and Shopify. A spokesperson for the regulator said scam websites should be reported to Scamwatch for assessment to determine whether they should be taken down.
Meta declined to comment. Shopify, the Canadian multinational e-commerce platform headed by Tobias Lütke, has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
