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 for a "non-invasive laser blood glucose meter" priced under $40 piqued her interest. If she could go back in time, she would definitely ignore that ad, especially considering the potential health risks associated with unreliable readings.

The Facebook ad claimed the device used lasers to read blood sugar levels without the need for finger pricks and was approved by Diabetes Australia. After clicking the link, Hibbs was directed to the AussieHaven.shop website, which claimed all its products were exclusively manufactured and sold in Australia. Everything seemed legitimate, so Hibbs ordered two meters for a total of $72.99, hoping for a convenient and accurate way to monitor her glucose levels.

However, she realized she had been scammed when she received the package. "The outer packaging was what I ordered," she told 9news.com.au. "But when I opened it up, it was a pulse oximeter. A pulse oximeter doesn't do anything for your blood sugar... It was just a complete lie." Instead of glucose meters, Hibbs received pulse oximeters used to measure blood oxygen levels and pulse, which were of no use in managing her diabetes, leaving her feeling frustrated and deceived.

She was also overcharged; her PayPal account was debited $102.67 instead of the $78.98 she thought she was paying ($72.99 for two meters, plus an extra $5.99 "trial membership" fee). When she tried to contact AussieHaven to complain, her emails went unanswered. After nearly a month of back-and-forth, Hibbs filed a claim with PayPal for a full refund and got her $102.67 back, but many victims who lost cash to these scams are never able to recover their losses, highlighting the widespread nature of the problem.

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 experienced. Many scams claim affiliation with Diabetes Australia, and some are even shared directly by fake Diabetes Australia Facebook pages. "We are receiving increasing reports from our community about fraudulent diabetes technology advertisements," Diabetes Australia CEO Justine Cain told 9news.com.au. "Some people have paid for products they have never received, 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 per year managing their condition, with those living with type 1 diabetes spending almost twice as much as those with type 2. Of the people with diabetes surveyed, nearly 70% said their spending on managing their condition had increased in the past five years, and 90% said they were anxious about the rising cost of living. Cain isn't surprised scammers are preying on these concerns, promising cheap blood glucose meters and other diabetes products online. "With the rising cost of living, many Australians are understandably looking for affordable diabetes products," she said, but "if a deal looks too good to be true, then it almost certainly is," emphasizing the need for caution.

Hibbs is normally very careful when shopping online, and she's angry she was lured in by something as seemingly harmless as a Facebook ad. "It was just a straight 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 one of the latest iterations. Hibbs reported the ads to Facebook, but they remained active for weeks. A Meta spokesperson later told 9news.com.au: "We have removed the content that violates our policies." Meta works with police and regulators, and 9news.com.au understands Meta removed more than 1 billion fake accounts from Facebook in the last three months of last year alone, demonstrating their ongoing efforts to combat fraudulent activities.

In hindsight, Hibbs missed some red flags when placing her order on the AussieHaven website. Although the website claimed its products were manufactured in Australia and sold only in Australia, the website's returns page listed a return address in Shenzhen, China, and it sold a wide variety 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 telltale sign of misleading products. She urged consumers to always verify product claims with their diabetes healthcare team, and 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, leaving many questions about their business practices unanswered.