As health and wellness content continues to gain prominence across digital platforms, a new study by McAfee has revealed a growing surge in health-related scams, misinformation, and AI-generated deceptive content targeting Indian consumers.

The findings indicate that cybercriminals are increasingly exploiting public trust in influencers, wellness trends, and emerging artificial intelligence technologies to promote misleading health advice, fake products, and fraudulent schemes.

According to the survey, 71% of Indians have been targeted by health-related scams, with younger adults proving particularly vulnerable. Scammers are employing tactics designed to create urgency and encourage immediate action. 

Nearly one-third of respondents reported being prompted to visit websites promoted through advertisements (31%) or click links shared on social media and messaging platforms (31%). Others were encouraged to download applications or files (26%) or scan QR codes (23%).

The research highlights the growing sophistication of health scams. The most commonly encountered schemes include fake weight-loss and fitness products (23%), misleading information about diseases or medical products (20%), counterfeit supplements and vitamins (18%), and fraudulent medical treatments or miracle cures (18%).

Respondents also reported impersonation scams involving healthcare providers and pharmacies (13%), as well as fake communications purportedly originating from government health agencies (10%).

Pratim Mukherjee, Senior Director of Engineering at McAfee India, said, “Health and wellness have become a bigger part of people’s daily lives online, but so have the risks. 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.”

The study found that social media has become the primary source of both health advice and health-related scams. Nearly 64% of respondents encounter health or wellness advice on social media at least once a week, while 34% see such content daily or multiple times each day.

Social media was also identified as the leading platform for health scams, cited by 53% of respondents. Other common channels included messaging applications such as WhatsApp and Telegram (37%), phone calls (33%), websites and online advertisements (30%), email (26%), online marketplaces (24%), text messages (23%), and even face-to-face interactions (19%).

The report also highlights the growing influence of celebrities and social media personalities in shaping public perceptions of health information. More than half of respondents (55%) said endorsements from celebrities or influencers increase their likelihood of trusting health-related advice.

At the same time, 54% reported encountering health or wellness content that appeared to be endorsed by a celebrity or public figure but was later found, suspected, or revealed to be fake, misleading, or generated using artificial intelligence. Among those who encountered such content, YouTube (68%) and Instagram (67%) were the most frequently cited platforms, followed by Facebook (43%), social media advertisements (42%), sponsored online content (30%), X/Twitter (25%), and messaging applications (22%). 

The findings were particularly pronounced among younger consumers, with 66% of respondents aged 25 to 34 reporting exposure to fake or suspicious health content linked to celebrities or influencers.