The Guardian reports..
Scammers are using celebrity cook Maggie Beer’s image and name without authorisation to spruik hemp gummies and CBD oil, ripping off unsuspecting customers.
The ads falsely promises to help with a range of health complaints, and in some cases uses customers’ details to then charge them in addition to the advertised amount.
Complaints about the hoax now make up more than a third of the celebrity scams reported to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. From the start of this year to 31 August, the ACCC’s Scamwatch received more than 485 reports of scams “using the name, image or likeness of celebrities to sell fraudulent products or promote cryptocurrency investment scams”, the ACCC said in a statement.
“Losses associate with this type of scam exceed $1.08m.
“In the same period, Scamwatch has received over 180 reports with losses of more than $48,000 impersonating Maggie Beer trying to sell products such as hemp gummies or CBD oil for pain relief.”
