Online shoppers warned of ‘dangerous’ weight-loss scam as ‘ghost stores’ impersonate real people to sell Ozempic-like treatments

Dietitian Lyndi Cohen says her likeness was used without her permission to promote a weight-loss product she would ‘obviously not endorse’. Photograph: Les Cohen/Lyndi Cohen

Online “ghost stores” masquerading as Australian businesses have expanded into advertising Ozempic-like weight loss treatments, and are impersonating real people, including a well-known dietitian, to recommend their products.

After uncovering more than 140 sites falsely claiming to be Australian fashion retailers that prompted a public warning from the consumer regulator, Guardian Australia has identified a new scam that targets people trying to lose weight.