Deepfake doctors used to peddle weight-loss patches
Tali writes about scams and consumer rights for Which? delving into fraud, technology and consumer rights topics to keep readers safe and empowered.
Demand for weight-loss products is soaring, meaning scammers are unsurprisingly exploiting it.
Report Fraud told Which? that while it received 48 reports from March 2022 to June 2026 regarding fraudulent weight-loss jabs, losses have totalled £10,993 – an average loss of £229 per report.
Reports range from fake weight-loss jabs being sold online to products never arriving or being unable to contact the seller.
Which? is warning people to watch out for fake products and potential scams lurking online after we found two dodgy adverts on YouTube using fake endorsements.
Read on to find out what we found and how you can stay safe when shopping online.
AI adverts on YouTube
One video advert featured what appeared to be people created using Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is also known as a deepfake video.
The people wore medical uniforms in a hospital with the Guy's and St Thomas’ hospital logo in the background.
Another version of this advert on YouTube displayed the logo of another medical organisation, Mayo Clinic.
Which? found that these adverts led to a website selling weight-loss patches. The website was newly created, which is often a sign that the website is dodgy, as scammers often register new websites for the purposes of their schemes.
Read more: Do vitamin patches really work?
AI scam ads
AI scam ads typically lead to websites selling dodgy products, items that don't exist or lead to subscription traps.
Recent Which? research found that when members of the public were asked to spot deepfakes, which are AI-generated videos, from a selection of real and fake videos, 70% failed to correctly identify all of the videos shown to them.
It's becoming harder to spot deepfakes as the technology is getting better by the day, but some methods of spotting deepfake videos are:
- Lip syncing that looks off.
- Robotic voices.
- Blurry details.
- Shadows and reflections in the eyes that don’t match the scene.
- Emotional mismatches between facial expressions and the theme of the video.
Fake endorsements and dodgy products
You need a prescription to buy weight-loss injections and weight-loss patches aren’t medically approved. Claims made by these products should be verified by official health bodies.
Currently, the NHS does not endorse or prescribe slimming patches for weight loss, as there is no clear evidence that they work or that they're safe or contain what they claim.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) warns against weight-loss products promoted on social media, especially those promising quick fixes, miracle results or being sold at unusually low prices.
Which? contacted Guy's and St Thomas’ hospital and it told us that it's seen similar scams using its logo under various names. It said that as soon as one is taken down, another one pops up and has published a warning on Facebook highlighting multiple videos promoting weight-loss patches, which falsely claim that its clinicians are using and endorsing these products.
Mayo Clinic told Which? that it has no association the advert or the weight-loss patches, and the use of its logo is unauthorised.
The ads Which? found were posted by an advertiser that claimed to be based in the US. At the time of writing, the advertiser had 200 live adverts on Google and YouTube, with several promoting weight-loss patches.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) told Which? that in the past six months, it has issued 19 alerts for weight loss-related ads through its scam ad system, one of which included the advert featuring Guy's and St Thomas’ hospital's branding that Which? came across.
Which? also contacted YouTube about these adverts and it said: 'We expressly prohibit ads that scam people by misrepresenting information about products or services, and [we] invest heavily in detecting and enforcing against scams.
Upon review, we have removed the ads shared with us for violating our ads policies.'
Reporting and avoiding scams
On YouTube, you can report scam ads and posts by selecting the three dots in the top right corner of the video and pressing ‘Report.’
If you've lost money or spotted an unauthorised transaction on your account, contact your bank immediately using the phone number on the back of your card.
Scams should also be reported to Report Fraud, or by calling the police on 101 if you live in Scotland.
Seen or been affected by a scam? Help us protect others
Sharing details of the scam helps us to protect others as well as inform our scams content, research and policy work. We will collect information relating to your experience of a scam, but we won't be able to identify your responses unless you choose to provide your contact details.
Share scam details
