Diet pill scam: beware of dodgy emails containing fake Dragons' Den endorsements

Scammers are sending phishing emails promising life-changing results to people who purchase ‘clinically proven’ diet pills. 

Not for the first time, fraudsters are using fake Dragons' Den endorsements to trick unsuspecting victims into parting with their bank details. 

Read on to learn about how this latest diet pill scam works and how to report it.

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Diet pill scam

This scam starts with an email from a seemingly random address, with the subject line ‘Summer is almost here, jump start your weight loss now’. 

The email includes ‘before’ and ‘after’ images of women, alongside fake images and unrealistic claims of losing '15-20 pounds in a month'. 

The message states you must 'hurry before we sell out' - a common tactic used by scammers to rush victims into making purchases without doing their due diligence.

Fake news article

If you click on a link in the email, you'll be taken to an 'article' on a spoofed version of the Daily Mail website. 

The 'article' is about a Dragons' Den contestant who pitched the diet pills and secured an investment from all five Dragons. This is completely false.

We traced the images used and found one of them on many pages and posts about dieting on social media. Another was traced back to a woman whose weight loss journey had been featured in various articles online - but had nothing to do with keto pills.

The article encourages you to click through to buy the bottle of the pills. When you do so, you'll asked for your details to complete the order. This is how the scammers steal your information.

How to report scam emails

Unsolicited emails should always be treated with suspicion, especially when they advertise products with completely unrealistic results.

To report a scam email, forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk or select 'report spam’ on Gmail, ‘report phishing’ on Hotmail or forward the message to abuse@yahoo.com from a Yahoo account. Suspicious websites can be reported to the National Cyber Security Centre.

Be on your guard against scammers

If you enter any details on a dodgy website - even if you haven’t given away your bank details - scammers may still use the information to target you at a later date.

So, if you’ve provided any information, such as your home address, phone number or email, be vigilant. Verify any unexpected emails, calls and texts from companies using the official contact details on their websites.

If you have entered your bank details, inform your bank immediately using the phone number on its website or the back of your card. You should also report the scam to Action Fraud.