Sunrise host Nat Barr has issued an urgent warning to viewers after discovering scammers are posing as her online and targeting unsuspecting Australians. The veteran breakfast TV host used Friday's broadcast to sound the alarm, revealing a surge in fake social media accounts using her name and images to trick fans.
'Over the past few weeks, I've become aware of a growing number of fake social media accounts pretending to be me,' she told viewers. Barr shared a message that a viewer named Sharon received, pointing out 'a few small differences' that potential targets should watch for.
'Hello Sharon, how are you doing? I've been monitoring your profile, and others too, for a while, and noticed you're a big fan of my works,' the fraudulent message read. Barr clarified, 'I do chat with viewers online from my verified account, I love hearing your feedback about the show, your story ideas, your favourite interviews and, yes, even about what I'm wearing.'
'But these messages are different. I would never contact someone out of the blue claiming I've been monitoring their profile. I would never ask for money, investments, gift cards, bank details or personal information,' she emphasised.
Barr urged anyone who receives suspicious messages in her name to block the account and report it immediately. She also encouraged viewers to check in on loved ones who may be more susceptible to online scams. 'I love connecting with you, our amazing Sunrise family. Scammers pretending to be me, do not,' she said.
The warning comes as impersonation scams continue to spike across Australia, with fraudsters increasingly hijacking the identities of well-known figures to appear legitimate. In the first three months of 2026, the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission's National Anti-Scam Centre reported receiving 45,816 scam reports. Between reports to Scamwatch and ReportCyber, there was a financial loss of $248.3 million.
In 2023, former Sunrise host David Koch was at the centre of a devastating scam after his image was exploited to trick fans. A Queensland pensioner lost over $150,000 – including her superannuation – after being lured in by a fake news article promoting cryptocurrency, falsely linked to Koch. The 73-year-old widow, Sarah, said she initially believed the story because it featured the trusted TV personality. 'It had David Koch on it, and I think he's really good … I don't know him personally, but I feel like I know him and trust him,' she told news.com.au at the time.
The article was entirely fabricated, packed with links to a bogus investment firm with no connection to Koch. After engaging with the scammers, Sarah was assigned a 'personal account manager' named Adam. 'He was very persuasive and reminded me of someone I was very fond of many years ago who was very kind to me,' she said. 'He was very friendly and would tell me things about himself.' At Adam's direction, Sarah downloaded remote access software. 'What followed was a spiral of supposed trades, mounting losses and pressure to keep paying more,' she said. Despite red flags – including calls from her banks questioning large transactions – Sarah said she was reassured by the scammers. Now, just six years into retirement, most of her savings are gone. 'I don't have a comfortable buffer anymore. I worked until I was 70,' she said.
Koch, who had been used in similar schemes for years, said stories like Sarah's were heartbreaking. 'I am absolutely devastated at the impact that these are having on Australians because they're trusting my name, supposedly, and my face, as some sort of credibility – the scammers are using me to suck people in,' he told news.com.au at the time.
