Tesco has reported an incident to the City of London Police after becoming the most recent high-profile brand to fall victim to deceptive advertising schemes. Unlicensed online casinos have been utilizing the supermarket’s imagery in promotions on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
This move aligns Tesco with a growing roster of prominent UK entities, including Barclays Bank, Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, and footballers Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham, whose likenesses have similarly been appropriated. These operators, who lack the legal authorization to offer gambling services in Britain, appear to be leveraging the public recognition of these celebrated names to attract customers.
The supermarket chain is part of a broader wave of corporate and celebrity targets affected by what authorities describe as scam endorsements designed to mislead consumers into engaging with illegal gambling platforms.
I clicked on one of these accidentally last week! Scary how realistic the fake ads look on Instagram.
Lewis Hamilton and Jude Bellingham next, no doubt. Celebrity endorsements are just a goldmine for fraudsters.
I thought Tesco only sold groceries? How does using their logo for casinos even make sense to anyone?
Is there any limit to the damage these scammers can do? This is happening everywhere now.
Disgusting that they use trusted brands like Tesco for these scams. The police need to shut these down faster.