Copyright NBC 5 Chicago
Fran Wons has been living with COPD for more than a decade, so when she saw an article for a miracle drug, she clicked to buy it right away. "The ad had NBC News on it, with Sam Elliott talking about a lung cure from a doctor who a friend of his knew," said Wons, who lives in west suburban Itasca. "'I figured, OK, Channel 5 news, it can't be a scam.'" In reality, the article was not from NBC Chicago or NBC News. It was an imposter article and what appears to be a fake celebrity endorsement used to gain the trust of consumers. Wons thought the medicine, described as a liquid that could be mixed with coffee, would help clear her lungs within a month. She bought the drug, advertised as $39.99, using her debit card. "The next morning I found out my account was wiped out," said Wons. Instead of $39.99, Wons was charged $59.99. That was followed by a second charge she says she never authorized. "It all totaled up to $299," she said. She never received the too-good-to-be-true lung cure, either. Instead she got six bottles of supplements for "gluco control" and a "smart cleanse." Wons called her bank and the company that sent her the pills, and after some back and forth was able to get her money refunded. However, the initial loss was devastating. "[It means] everything. I only get 300 a month, and it pays my bills." NBC 5 Responds found numerous posts from people online saying they'd seen the fake NBC article and either purchased a drug or considered it because they thought Sam Elliott endorsed it. NBC 5 Responds reached out to the talent agencies listed online representing Elliott but never heard back. NBC 5 Responds did not hear back from the company that sold Wons the pills, either. NBC News says the article was not a legitimate NBC News publication. In a statement, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, said in part: "We have investigated the ads that NBC has flagged and disabled the accounts and Pages behind them for violating our Unacceptable Business Practices policy. Scammers are relentless and constantly evolve their tactics to try to evade detection. … we continually invest in building new technical defenses to strengthen our detection and enforcement capabilities against this industry-wide issue. Since the start of the year our expert teams have detected and disrupted close to 8 million accounts associated with scam centers…” When it comes to celebrity images being used to sell products, Meta said they have taken pains to avoid similar instances. "Today, there are nearly 500,000 public figures who are being protected from having their likeness misused in these scams," the company said. Meta says before purchasing an item through its platforms, do your research. Look up the business or website independently, not just through the links provided in ads or messages. Wons is sharing her story to make sure others don't fall for a similar scheme. "They’re scammers and they're getting really good with that AI," said Wons.
