An Instagram or Facebook ad offers discounted botox or cosmetic surgery — the clinic takes your deposit and vanishes
A social media ad offers deeply discounted botox or surgery — you pay a deposit by bank transfer after chatting on WhatsApp, and the clinic cancels, disappears, or sends a fake product. 49 reports to Report Fraud, totalling £234,112.
Also known as: cosmetic surgery deposit scam UK, fake botox clinic Instagram, beauty treatment deposit fraud, fake aesthetics clinic scam, fake fillers deposit social media UK
Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes
- 1 Call your bank or card's fraud line right now. Use the number on the back of your card — not any number from the message or caller. Ask them to stop or reverse the payment and freeze the account.
- 2 If you paid by gift card, wire, or an app (Zelle, Venmo, Cash App): contact that company immediately and report it as fraud. Acting fast sometimes recovers the money.
- 3 Report to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The sooner, the better.
What to do right now
- 1 Do not pay a deposit for any cosmetic treatment before visiting the clinic premises in person and verifying the practitioner's registration.
- 2 Verify any practitioner via the JCCP register (jccp.org.uk), the Save Face register (saveface.co.uk), or, for doctors, the GMC register (gmc-uk.org) — a search should return a named individual at that clinic.
- 3 Pay by credit or debit card, not bank transfer — Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act gives you chargeback rights for card payments above £100; a bank transfer gives you far fewer options if the clinic disappears.
- 4 Report the ad via the 'report ad' or 'report account' feature on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok so the platform can investigate.
- 5 If you already paid a deposit by bank transfer, call your bank immediately using the number on the back of your card and ask about authorised push payment (APP) fraud recovery.
- 6 Report to Report Fraud at https://www.reportfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040.
Red flags
- ⚠ The advert is on social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok) offering a treatment at 50–80% below typical market prices — no legitimate registered clinic sells consultations or surgical procedures via social media ads with instant booking
- ⚠ After you express interest, the conversation moves away from the ad and onto WhatsApp, Telegram or direct messages — registered practitioners use bookings via their official website
- ⚠ You are asked to pay a deposit by bank transfer, payment link, or PayPal Friends and Family before you have visited the clinic in person or verified its address
- ⚠ The 'clinic' account has a recent creation date, few posts, or follower counts that changed sharply overnight — signs of a fake or cloned account
- ⚠ The username is almost identical to a real clinic but with an extra character, a number suffix, or a slightly altered spelling
- ⚠ Before-and-after photos used in the ad appear on reverse image searches to belong to a completely different real practitioner or clinic
- ⚠ The practitioner's name does not appear on the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP) register, the Save Face register, or the General Medical Council register
Known variants
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Counterfeit cosmetics variant: social media ad sells branded cosmetics (Charlotte Tilbury, La Mer, Dyson haircare) at 60–80% off; product arrives but is counterfeit, diluted, or mislabelled. Not a service deposit scam — the product ships, but it is fake and may contain harmful ingredients. Contact your GP if you applied a product and experienced a reaction.
Last seen: 9/30/2026