Consumer advocacy group Choice has named Meta for failing to protect social media users from scams and health insurer NIB for charging single parents more than couples in the 19th annual Shonky awards, which list the worst Australian products and services of the year.
The Choice CEO, Ashley de Silva, said Choice reported three suspicious Facebook ads as scams to Meta – the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – in 2024.
One ad remained live for at least the next four days, while the other two were removed within 24 hours. But De Silva said this was “not enough”, as one of the accounts reposted an almost identical ad and continued to promote other suspicious ads.
In 2023, Australians lost $95m to social media scams including on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and online dating sites, according to Scamwatch data.
De Silva said scams were really serious and life-changing for victims: “76% of reported social media scam losses in 2023 were from Meta’s platforms, so it’s an issue where there’s clearly a lot happening.
“While [Meta is] spending on scam prevention, this kind of data shows it’s not going far enough.”
Meta did not directly respond to Guardian Australia’s requests for comment. However, the company has recently announced a tool to provide a dedicated scam-reporting channel between Meta and several major banks, and the use of facial recognition technology to protect against scam ads featuring celebrities.
Mark Serrels, Choice’s editorial director, named NIB as the “worst of a bad bunch” of health insurers for charging single parents more than couples.
Choice found if single parents insured by NIB’s Gold Top Hospital cover want to include a child in their health plan, with Basic Extras and a $750 excess, their premiums will double. By contrast, a couple will only pay around an extra 4% to include a child on the same plan.
“It’s the one that made me the maddest,” Serrels said. “For single parents to be charged more for health insurance … I just think that’s completely out there.”
An NIB spokesperson said service cost was the largest contributor to a policy’s price. They acknowledged a single parent wanting to add one child to their policy will pay more than couples with one child on the equivalent policy, but under the increased cost of a single-parent policy there was “no limit” to how many children could be included.
Daily Juice Co was also awarded a Shonky, with Choice alleging the company uses food colouring to achieve a green colour in two of its “green” juices, Daily Juice Green Mix and Daily Juice Green Blend with Folate.
When Choice mixed their own version of the Daily Juice Green Mix according to the ingredients list – but excluding the green food colouring – the results looked more like orange juice.
While the products don’t claim to contain vegetable content, De Silva said it was reasonable for consumers to assume they did.
“It seems ridiculous to have a green juice without some green vegetable in it … If you’re having to add green food colouring to give the product its namesake, that doesn’t feel right,” he said.
A spokesperson for Bega Group, which owns Daily Juice Co, said the company’s green juice products ceased production in September and were no longer available in supermarkets.
The Acerpure Clean Lite stick vacuum also made the list, with Choice describing the appliance as “the worst stick vacuum we’ve ever tested”.
The vacuum scored just 10% on a performance test assessing how well it sucked up cornflakes, potting mix and flour from a hard floor. While most vacuum filters were usually easy to clean, Choice testers found Acerpure’s vacuum filter was “completely clogged” and needed to be hit against a hard surface for around five minutes to clear.
“The Acerpure stick vacuum fails at its one job, creates more work for you, and is outperformed by stick vacuums half its price,” De Silva said in a statement. “We think maybe Acer should stick to computers.”
Choice also awarded a Shonky to Grounding Well’s “grounding” socks. According to Choice, the product claims to reverse ageing, improve sleep and reduce pain – but Choice says these claims are not supported by evidence, and in its opinion the socks themselves are “really poorly made”.
Choice’s Shonky awards have been running for almost 20 years, but De Silva said companies were continuing to take shortcuts.
“It’s really more of a story of if you just made better products, we wouldn’t have to be doing it … We’d love to never give a Shonky out,” De Silva said.
Acerpure and Grounding Well were contacted for comment.
