Brits warned over fake Lidl adverts as shoppers conned out of £200

Shoppers have been scammed by fake adverts impersonating Lidl products. The adverts promote coffee machines, electric bikes and lounge sets at low prices but instead of taking victims to the supermarket's website, they redirect them to a scam site registered earlier this year.

They then lure in victims to buy items and either nothing is sent in return or an item that does not fit the description. Some £53m was lost to purchase scams in the first half of 2025, recent bank data reported by UK Finance revealed. A similar scam was running last year selling mystery boxes, also impersonating Lidl. People who fell for this scam got nothing in return and found multiple transactions on their bank accounts taking nearly £200.

Malicious adverts were found on Facebook and Instagram using Lidl's logo and promoting household items like an a folding scooter, an outdoor lounge chair, a drone, a climbing exercise machine and an inflatable hot tub all at discounted prices. In an investigation, Which? followed a link on an advert which took them to a suspicious website.

The site raised immediate red flags being recently registered, had no contact information or terms and conditions, and the address on the website led to an empty car park. All the adverts found were reported to Meta and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Lidl also confirmed it was not associated with these adverts and Meta said it was investigating them.

The Online Safety Act regulates harmful content on big tech platforms and places duties on certain large online platforms to detect and prevent fraudulent paid-for adverts. Ofcom has delayed those duties being implemented, likely until 2027 at the earliest, Which? reported.

Red flags to look out for are:

• Big discounts to lure you in.
• Impersonating real brands - look for the verification tick on the account.
• Stolen images - you can reverse image search pictures on tools like TinEye to see if they have been used elsewhere on the internet.
• Using fake endorsements - check the company's official website to see if the endorsement is real.

You can report scam adverts on Facebook and Instagram by selecting the three dots in the top right corner and pressing report. Suspicious websites can be reported to the National Cyber Security Centre.

If you get scammed by one of these adverts and lose money, call your bank immediately using the number on the back of your bank card and report it to Action Fraud, or call the police on 101 if you're in Scotland.

If something arrives that doesn't match the description, contact the retailer to complain and ask for a refund. If the seller refuses to cooperate, you can make a chargeback claim if you paid by debit card or a Section 75 claim if you paid by credit card and the cost was more than £100.