Scammers distort photos of Hilary Barry and Dai Henwood to sell weight loss pills

Broadcaster Hilary Barry has been forced to once again warn her fans not to fall for a weight loss scam that is producing distorted photos of her.

The TVNZ presenter took to social media today explaining the “scammers are at it again” after they pulled a similar stunt in July.

However, they have taken it a step further this time, photoshopping her images to make her appear much larger than she is in an attempt to sell “keto gummies”.

“Please don’t buy any products claiming to be weight loss pills. I haven’t lost 50kg eating keto gummies as they claim,” she wrote.

“If I had, I’d be dead.”

She then posted side by sides of the original images, and the ones that had been manipulated.

Barry wasn’t the only one to warn their followers about scams today, with popular Kiwi comedian and TV presenter Dai Henwood making a video concerning a “deep fake” scam doing the rounds online.

In the video posted on his social media, he said the same keto gummy scam was targeting him.

Instead of distorted pictures, a video of someone else was digitally altered to look like him.

“I don’t sell supplements, I don’t endorse supplements,” he said, before asking his followers to report the videos if they see them online.

This is not the first time this scam has popped up, in July other major stars came forward to also warn their followers including Newshub anchor Samantha Hayes and Coast radio star, Toni Street.

Street addressed the scams with a post on her Instagram account blasting the ads, begging people to not give the scammers their money.

“Please do not give these people your money,” adding, “I would never promote weight loss gummies.”

The star also pointed out the name of the accounts - one being Abdallah Hossam and the other, Cantanes Juan y Fidelina - writing, “Look at the name of the people trying to sell these to you, that’s the giveaway!”

She was also targeted in April and spoke to the Herald, saying she was outraged by the act.

“It’s outrageous,” the star who champions body positivity and authentic social media content said.

“They’ve stolen, uplifted images, video that I’ve done over many, many years and they’ve doctored my voice into a very unusual English accent that sounds nothing like my own voice and they’ve obviously enhanced a couple of photos to make me look a lot bigger than what I am to show that I’ve lost weight.

“It’s absolutely nothing to do with me.

“I think I’m pretty clear on my Instagram, I’m all about body positivity. I would never be flogging anything that was some sort of quick fix for weight loss.”

In April, Hayes was also targeted by the scammers, confirming to fans with a post on Instagram that the posts were fake.

“For the record, I do not endorse keto gummies. It’s a scam involving some pretty amateur photoshopping. Please don’t buy them,” the 39-year-old said.

Adding, “If you see the ad, please send it to me and please report it. If you check out my posts you’ll see that I don’t endorse or promote any products.

“Thank you to those who got in touch to check with me directly before buying them and brought it to my attention. I appreciate it immensely.”

Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.