Keto diet pill scam targets Facebook users

Which? is warning Facebook users to beware of scammers peddling keto diet pills.

Scammers have long tried to market and sell fake diet pills in order to steal your personal and financial data or send you a dodgy product.

This latest scam uses AI-generated images of weight-loss case studies and sends victims to a fake news website. 

Below, we unpack the latest keto diet pill scam.

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Keto diet pill scams

Dodgy Facebook accounts are tagging other users on the platform in posts that show fake weight-loss transformations.

One of the posts says: ‘Finally I found an effective method following my friend’s recommendation! In just 20 days, my family was amazed by my transformation.’

It then instructs you to click the link in the comments so that the poster can ‘share their joy with everyone’. 

The link is created using a link shortener, which disguises the true website address.

When we looked into the accounts behind these posts, it was clear that some of them were scam accounts. However, others were posted from possibly hacked accounts.

Malicious keto pill website

One website we investigated impersonated the Mail Online. It presented a fake news article reporting on actress Letitia Dean’s weight loss.

The loss of ‘over two stone in just a few weeks’ is put down to keto diet pills. 

The fake story contained various links that lead to another scam site, which contains a questionnaire asking for gender, body type, dream body, exercise and sleep habits as well as your current weight and height.

On completing the questions, you're sent to a page where you’re asked for your personal and financial information to purchase the keto diet pills.

We reported this website to the National Cyber Security Centre.

How to spot a scam post on social media

Some signs that a post or an advert on social media may be a scam:

• They come from profiles that have little to no information on them.
• They’re promoting something that sounds too good to be true.
• Posts that contain links to websites you don’t recognise.
• The posts have been shared numerous times.

You can report dodgy posts and accounts on Facebook by selecting the three dots in the top-right corner of the post or account profile and pressing ‘report’.

Scam websites can be reported to the National Cyber Security Centre.

If you lose any money to a scam, call your bank immediately using the number on the back of your bank card and report it to Action Fraud or call the police on 101 if you’re in Scotland.