Bronwyn knew she'd been scammed as soon as she opened the little white boxes

Bronwyn Hibbs, a Queensland resident, has lived with type 1 diabetes for decades. An advertisement she saw on Facebook piqued her interest, promoting a "non-invasive laser blood glucose meter" for under $40. Looking back, she wishes she had never clicked on that ad, as it led to a frustrating and costly experience.

The ad claimed the device used lasers to read blood sugar levels without finger pricks and was approved by Diabetes Australia. Hibbs clicked the link, which led to AussieHaven.shop, a website claiming all its products were exclusively made and sold in Australia. Everything seemed legitimate, so Hibbs ordered two meters for a total of $72.99, hoping for a convenient solution to her blood sugar monitoring needs.

However, she realized she had been scammed the moment she received the package. "The package looked exactly like what I ordered," she told 9news.com.au. "But when I opened it, it was a pulse oximeter. Pulse oximeters do nothing for blood sugar...it was all lies." Instead of blood glucose meters, Hibbs received pulse oximeters, which measure blood oxygen levels and pulse rate, offering no benefit for her diabetes management.

Furthermore, she was overcharged. Her PayPal account was debited $102.67 instead of the $78.98 she thought she was paying ($72.99 for the two meters, plus an extra $5.99 "trial qualification" fee). When she tried to contact AussieHaven to complain, her emails went unanswered. Frustrated, Hibbs filed a claim with PayPal for a full refund, and after nearly a month of back-and-forth, she finally got her $102.67 back, but many scammed victims are not able to recover their losses.

Diabetes Australia, the country's peak body for diabetes, is aware of and "deeply concerned" about social media scams targeting Australians living with diabetes, including the one Hibbs encountered. Many scams claim affiliation with Diabetes Australia, some even shared directly by fake Diabetes Australia Facebook pages. "We have received an increasing number of reports from the community about fraudulent diabetes technology advertisements," Diabetes Australia Group CEO Justine Cain told 9news.com.au. "Some people have paid for products and never received them, while others have received devices that provide inaccurate blood glucose readings, posing a serious, even life-threatening risk."

According to a 2024 Diabetes Australia study, Australians living with diabetes spend an average of $4,000 a year managing their condition, with people living with type 1 diabetes spending almost double that of those with type 2. Nearly 70% of surveyed people with diabetes said their spending on managing their condition had increased in the past five years, and 90% said they were anxious about rising cost of living pressures. Cain isn't surprised, believing scammers are preying on people's need for affordable glucose monitors and other diabetes products. "With the rising cost of living, many Australians are naturally looking for affordable diabetes products," she said, "but if a deal looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is."

Hibbs is normally very cautious when shopping online, and she is angry that she was tricked by what seemed like a harmless Facebook ad. "It was just a simple transaction through my PayPal. There was nothing that looked dodgy," she said. Scamwatch reports that Australians lost more money to social media scams in 2024 than any other contact method, and these ads targeting Australians living with diabetes are just the latest variation. Hibbs reported the ads to Facebook, but they remained active weeks later. A Meta spokesperson later told 9news.com.au: "We have removed the content that violates our policies." Meta works with law enforcement and regulators, and 9news.com.au understands that Meta removed over one billion fake accounts from Facebook in the last three months alone.

In hindsight, Hibbs missed some red flags when she placed her order on the AussieHaven website. Although the site claimed its products were exclusively made and sold in Australia, its returns page listed a return address in Shenzhen, China, and it sold a wide range of products, from drill bits to keychains to sushi makers. Cain also confirmed that Diabetes Australia does not allow technology companies to use its logo in their advertising, which can be a clear sign of misleading products. She urged consumers to always verify product claims with their diabetes healthcare team, while Hibbs warned Australians not to make the same mistake she did. "If it looks too good to be true, then yes, it absolutely is." 9news.com.au contacted AussieHaven for comment but did not receive a response.