As health and wellness content continues to proliferate across digital platforms, scammers are increasingly exploiting the influence of celebrities and content creators to spread misleading health advice, according to new research from McAfee.
The study found that 55% of Indians say celebrity or influencer endorsements affect their likelihood of trusting health advice, highlighting the growing role online personalities play in shaping consumer perceptions around wellness and healthcare.
At the same time, 54% of respondents reported seeing health or wellness content that appeared to be endorsed by a celebrity or public figure but was later revealed or suspected to be fake, misleading or AI-generated. The issue is particularly pronounced among younger audiences, with 66% of respondents aged 25–34 saying they have encountered fake or suspicious celebrity-linked health content online.
McAfee’s findings suggest that scammers are increasingly combining influencer marketing dynamics with artificial intelligence and social engineering tactics to make fraudulent health claims appear more credible and trustworthy.
The report also found that 71% of Indians have been targeted by health scams, with many being pressured into taking immediate action. Around 31% were encouraged to visit websites promoted through advertisements, while an equal proportion reported being prompted to click links shared via social media or messaging platforms. Additionally, 26% were asked to download apps or files, and 23% encountered scams involving QR codes.
Social media has emerged as the primary channel for both health information and health-related scams. Nearly 64% of respondents said they come across health or wellness advice on social media at least once a week, while 34% encounter such content daily or multiple times a day.
The study identified social media as the leading source of health scams, with 53% of respondents reporting exposure on social platforms. Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram followed at 37%, ahead of phone calls (33%), websites and online advertisements (30%), and email (26%).
Among those who had seen celebrity- or influencer-endorsed health content, YouTube (68%) and Instagram (67%) were the most common platforms where such material appeared, followed by Facebook (43%) and social media advertisements (42%).
The findings underscore growing concerns around the intersection of influencer culture, AI-generated content and online fraud, as scammers increasingly leverage trust, familiarity and wellness trends to make deceptive claims appear legitimate.
“Health and wellness have become a bigger part of people’s daily lives online, but so have the risks,” said Pratim Mukherjee, Senior Director of Engineering, McAfee India. “Scammers are getting better at making fake health advice, products, and offers look credible, especially as AI makes these scams easier to create and harder to spot. That’s why it’s so important for consumers to pause, verify information through trusted sources, and think twice before clicking suspicious links or offers.”
