Ellen DeGeneres & Sandra Bullock Targeted In Fake Online Ads

Ellen DeGeneres, 61, and Sandra Bullock, 55, have recently fallen victim to fake advertisement scams online and are currently filing a lawsuit against “anyone who uses their names and images to sell products they don’t endorse.”

The actresses’ faces have been used in online advertisements without their knowledge or permission. The deceiving advertisements usually promote some kind of beauty product. While DeGeneres was placed in an ad for a product called Miraessence, Bullock was placed in one for a product called Neuactive. Even Today host Savannah Guthrie has been a victim of these fake advertisements. A mysterious product called Liva Derma had used the news anchor’s face in its ad. An upset Guthrie took to Twitter to clear up the situation.

In an interview, the anchor further explained, “I would never want people to think they are getting a product or something that I said was good and it ends up to be a rip off.”

Fake ad scams flourish by hiring affiliates to create realistic ads and then offering risk-free trials, in which a customer pays only for shipping. However, scammers behind fake ads always end up charging the product’s full price without the customers’ knowledge.

Every time one fake site is shut down, another one pops up, which is why it is so hard to end the scamming system.