Hilary Barry is warning social media users to be wary of social media advertisements using her image to scam people out of money.
Pictures of the Seven Sharp host are being used without her permission across a number of online campaigns in posts for fake businesses pretending to sell items such as weight loss supplements and anti-wrinkle cream.
As a household name, the TV presenter is used to seeing her face pop up from time to time.
But the wave of social media content pretending to have her endorsement has been causing concern.
“It’s annoying, it’s aggravating and it’s also really upsetting," she told 1News.
She’s now warning people scrolling on platforms like Facebook and Instagram not to be tricked into thinking these products have her backing.
“It’s not my vibe, my vibe is ‘you do you’,” she told 1News.
“People genuinely believe I'm promoting these weight loss products, and I simply wouldn't ever do that.”
On a personal level, the TV presenter says it’s been something she worries about because some of the ads look so realistic.
“I care deeply about people being sucked into these scams, good people who genuinely think they’re real - because they’re pretty slick-looking, some of these things,” she said.
“They’re preying on people's vulnerabilities.
“The thing that really irks me is that this is a time when we're in a cost of living crisis.
“Money is really tight for people. The thought of somebody losing even more money to something that is a scam really upsets me.”
One post has taken an image of Barry pictured with Oprah Winfrey from when they met in November 2015.
It tries to allude that Winfrey was responsible for passing on a new weight loss method which left Barry with a ‘perfect beach body’.
Another uses Barry's name and falsely claims to have interviewed the star on a body transformation.
“I'm never going to hock off weight-loss products or anti-wrinkle creams,” she said.
Other TVNZ presenters including Jenny-May Clarkson and Hayley Holt, as well as other well-known Kiwis, have also had pictures of them used without consent. In some cases the pictures have been digitally altered to paint an entirely different narrative.
Last night, Barry took to social media with a couple of examples and clarified that her image had been used without her blessing.
"Just to reiterate - these are scams. They have all been reported but continue to pop up,” she told her followers.
"I would never sell you weight loss pills - if you saw my gut you’d know I hadn’t shaved 19kg off it."
A TVNZ spokesperson said attempts are made to kill the fake posts, but as they appear so frequently, it's hard to keep up.
"We can say with certainty that TVNZ presenters do not endorse bitcoin, underground banking systems, argan oil, rosehip cream, weed ranch relaxing cleanser, ultragen, and weight-loss programmes.
"These stories and advertisements are a fabrication. Our presenters' images are used without permission, the quotes are made up and there is no legitimate endorsement or genuine association.
"TVNZ’s lawyers initiate take down proceedings as soon as a new fraud comes to our attention – but it’s very difficult to stamp it out.
"We know viewers can be impacted by these scams, so we talk about them regularly on our news and current affairs programmes to warn people and help them keep safe online."
Barry hopes by speaking out her message will get to the right people.
“If people ever see, you know, me on some sort of ad for that, you know, it's a scam,” she said.
Anyone who sees a post which appears to be misusing someone else’s image can click the ‘report’ button to alert the platform it might be fake.
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