By Lauren Haughey
Sara Davies has claimed that fraudsters are using her name to sell ‘slimming pills’ in dozens of social media scams. The Dragons’ Den star, 41, was ‘devastated’ on discovering the con and is keen to ensure her fans know it’s a ‘load of rubbish’.
“Yes this is a SCAM,” she said in an Instagram post this week. “They are all scams….. there are dozens of them going round and every day I’m hearing anecdotally from different friends, ‘So and so has asked me to get you to check with Sara if those slimming pills she’s invested in are any good’.
“Honestly I’m devastated – the thought that people are getting scammed out of so much money or worse they could actually send for something and be ingesting some random pills when they don’t know what’s in them…. And people are doing it because they think I said it was good – it boils my blood!”
According to the Mirror, Sara revealed last year that she’d gone from a size 16 to a 12 after significant weight loss. Although she’s since become a public advocate for healthy living and nutritious recipes, she insisted there is no ‘magic pill’ to do it all for you.
In light of this, Sara urged her followers to keep an eye out for any suspicious social media posts. If something ‘looks a bit fishy’, chances are, it probably is.
She continued: “I was always told – if it looks a bit fishy and smells a bit fishy it’s probably a scam and keep well away – so PLEASE – tell as many people as you can, share this post, tell your friends, can we just make sure everyone knows this is all a load of rubbish and a total scam.
“And I mean c’mon – some of this AI-generated imagery… it doesn’t even look like me! I’ll keep sharing my healthy eating nutrition recipes, my strength class exercises, and my running tips – all the stuff I’ve actually done to lose weight and tone up the last few years – because trust me there’s not a magic pill that will just do it for you!”
Sara’s post was quickly flooded with Instagram comments from fans, many of whom had also spotted the suspicious diet pill posts. One person wrote: “Yes, I saw it recently, and it looked really genuine!
“I only had doubts because I follow you on here and know you exercise and eat healthy and the advert was literally telling you that you don’t need to exercise!” Meanwhile, another added: “I reported this to Instagram over a week ago!! After reading the info I thought it was too good to be true and I couldn’t imagine Sara getting involved with something like!!”
Many social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, allow users to report posts or profiles that appear to be scams. Current Instagram guidance reads: “If you have an Instagram account, you can report a profile or content on Instagram that doesn’t follow our Community Standards.
“…You can also report a profile for posting content it shouldn’t be, pretending to be someone else or for being a child under the age of 13. Learn how to report a comment or how to report a message.
“Bear in mind that your report is anonymous, except if you’re reporting an intellectual property infringement. The account that you reported won’t see who reported them.”
You can report a post on Instagram for any of the following reasons:
Selling or promoting restricted items Nudity or sexual activity Scam, fraud or spam False information Intellectual property You just don’t like it Bullying or unwanted contact Suicide, self-injury or eating disorders Violence, hate or exploitation
To do so, follow these steps:
Tap the ‘…’ option the top right of a post Click ‘Report’ and follow the subsequent instructions
To report a fake profile on Facebook, follow these instructions:
Click the ‘…’ option below their cover photo Select ‘Report profile’ and follow the prompts
Facebook’s current guidance reads: “Facebook profiles and Pages that impersonate other people go against our Community Standards and aren’t allowed on Facebook. If you see a profile or Page that’s pretending to be you, someone you know or a public figure (example: celebrity, politician), we encourage you to let us know.”
For more information, visit Facebook or Instagram’s website.