Fake celebrity endorsements remain a popular method of drawing people into scams and fake products online – a familiar famous face placed in an ad can draw the eye and install an element of trust.

Fraudsters know this and use it to their advantage, impersonating a host of celebrities online with alarming regularity. Just last month, Martin Lewis wrote to the Prime Minister alongside ‘a raft of other household names’ whose faces are being misused in scam ads.

When we warned about CBD oil scams using Deborah Meaden’s image to lure victims in August, we noticed a number of people in the comments and on social media telling us that they’d spotted British tennis legend Andy Murray’s name being used in the same way. One victim had been conned out of more than £200.

I decided to let Andy Murray know it was happening. He said:

“Thanks to Which? for campaigning on this issue, online fraud seems to be growing in sophistication and it’s important people are made aware. I work with select partners and they can be found on my website and through my official social media channels. Anything else should be ignored, better still, reported.”

Adverts for CBD gummies using Andy Murray’s name are fake. Websites selling these products using his name and/or image can be reported to the National Cyber Security Centre. Phishing attempts (such as emails pointing to scam sites) can be forwarded to:

report@phishing.gov.uk

More than £200 refunded

On 23 August, just a day before we published our CBD oil scam warning here on Which? Conversation, Jane (not her real name) tweeted Andy Murray asking if he was aware his name was being used to promote CBD products. Jane had just lost more than £200 after believing the endorsement from the three-time grand slam winner in a social media advert was genuine.

Jane had placed an order for £29.99 on her Sainsbury’s Bank credit card but was alarmed to see a sudden additional payment of nearly £200 for further products. She informed the bank of the error but the transactions still went through.

She was told that she’d need to contact the seller directly for a refund before a fraud claim could be started. Conversations with the company behind the ad rather predictably took her round in circles.

We spoke to Sainsbury’s Bank on Jane’s behalf and explained that continued engagement by the victim with a company utilising a fake celebrity endorsement was unwise. While Jane accepted that she’d made the initial £29.99 payment herself, the additional £200 was unauthorised and should be refunded.

The bank investigated and eventually refunded Jane for both transactions. She was also offered £50 as a goodwill gesture due to the process initially being delayed. Jane refused the compensation, telling us she was happy with the outcome. Sainsbury’s Bank said:

“Protecting customers is our priority and we’ve been in touch with [Jane] to help, we blocked her original credit card to avoid further unauthorised transactions, refunded the disputed transactions and issued a replacement card.”

Have you spotted fake celebrity endorsements?

We know from Martin Lewis’s efforts to raise awareness, the comments here on Which? Conversation and the victims who have contacted Which? recently that fake celebrity endorsements remain a big problem.

To prevent more people from falling for fake ads we’d like to see your screenshots of them so we can continue to provide warnings via our scam alert service. To do this, attach the image to an email and send it to conversation.comments@which.co.uk

Remember, if you do think you’ve been the victim of a scam ad/website, let your bank know what’s happened as soon as possible.