Tesco has alerted City of London police over scam ads using its name and image on Facebook and Instagram.
Why it matters: The ads target shoppers and social media users with fake endorsements that can make fraud look legitimate. It also shows how quickly brand misuse can escalate from platform reporting to police action.
- Tesco said the scam ads appeared on Facebook and Instagram and used its name and image.
- Tesco says it has only one official Facebook page and warns about scammers impersonating the company.
- City of London Police has previously said bogus celebrity endorsements were tied to more than 500 investment-fraud reports in 12 months, with losses above £10 million.
- The Guardian reported similar scam patterns involving Barclays, Lewis Hamilton, Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland.
Tesco said it alerted City of London police after scam ads used the supermarket's name and image on Meta platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. The company also points users to its public social-media-scams page, which says Tesco is aware of Facebook scammers impersonating the company and that it has only one official Facebook page.
The issue matters because the ads are aimed at ordinary social media users who may see familiar brand names or faces and assume the promotion is genuine. In practice, the scam relies on trusted branding to lend credibility to bogus offers, including investment-style promotions.
City of London Police has previously warned that criminals use social media influencers and bogus celebrity endorsements to make scams look credible. In one 12-month period, Action Fraud received more than 500 investment-fraud reports mentioning bogus celebrity endorsements, with losses above £10 million, according to the force's National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.
The Guardian reported that the same pattern has also been seen with other brands and public figures, including Barclays, Lewis Hamilton, Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland. That suggests the tactic is being reused across multiple sectors rather than confined to one company or one type of victim.
For businesses, the Tesco complaint shows how brand abuse can move from content moderation complaints to formal police involvement. For users, the practical warning is to treat ads that lean on celebrity names, familiar logos or urgent money-making claims with caution, especially when they appear in social feeds.
By the numbers
- more than 500 - investment-fraud reports mentioning bogus celebrity endorsements in one 12-month period, according to City of London Police
- more than £10 million - losses tied to those reports, according to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau
Yes, but: The broader list of brands and public figures comes from The Guardian, while the police figures cited by Tesco are from City of London Police.