Fake TikTok doctor who gave medical advice to 243,000 followers and posed for photos in scrubs fined $13,000

A woman who pretended to be a doctor and shared medical advice with her 243,000 followers on TikTok has been fined $13,000.

Dalya Karezi, who was handed the fine by a magistrate, also shared the advice - which she was not qualified to give - with her 20,000 Instagram followers. In a letter of apology read to the court, Karezi explained how a white lie she told a woman she was trying to impress became a fake online alter-ego. But she initiated she had only shared information from reputable sources and was trying to help others.

She wrote: “As I write this letter I am crying and still struggling to see how I got to this position because this is very out of character and I never thought I would be in this position”, as reported by the Daily Mail.

The letter continued: “I have taken responsibility for my actions and know there is no excuse for my actions. I feel ashamed and hate myself every day. I look at myself and see the humiliation I have caused myself, my friends and family. Having to tell my family and friends about my actions was extremely humiliating. I understand the serious consequences of my actions and I am truly sorry for what I have done.”

On Wednesday (11 October), Karezi pleaded guilty in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court, Australia, to impersonating a doctor and pretending to be a medical specialist. She was sentenced to a community corrections order for two years and fined $13,300 (around £10,970).

‘Extensive, prolific and pervasive improprieties’

The 30-year-old gained 243,000 followers on TikTok and 20,000 on Instagram by posing as Dr Karezi between 2019 and 2021, and offered them advice about serious health issues. Her 56 TikTok videos were liked 1.5million times. 

She falsely claimed to have a doctors Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree, as well as a Masters of Reproductive Medicine and used the initials OBGYN, which stands for Obstetrics and gynaecology , as she pretended to be an obstetrician-gynaecologist. Karezi, who posed for photos on her social media accounts wearing doctor’s scrubs and with a stethoscope around her neck, also claimed to be a doctor when successfully applying for research positions with Australia's NSW Health and the Cancer Institute although she did not need such a qualification for the jobs. 

The prosecution against Karezi was brought by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and the maximum penalty for each offence which she faced was $60,000 or three years in jail. Karezi, who had no previous criminal record, expressed extreme remorse for her lies in a 1,400-word letter of apology which was given to magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis.

Tsavdaridis said some of Karezi's social media posts “transcended the boundaries” and he described her crimes as a “fairly serious matter”. He added: “The improprieties in holding herself out [as a doctor] were extensive, prolific and pervasive. [She] offered advice on ovarian cancer, Covid. . . for people's toddlers, for uterine fibroids, contraception, paracetamol overdose [while] wearing scrubs and with a stethoscope round her neck.”

‘So terrified of social media now’

Karezi, who had a Bachelor of Health Science, said she had applied for a position with the NSW Health and the Cancer Institute after her friend Sheetal Chilim recommended her for the job.  She admitted she had told Chilim she was studying medicine when they first met at a community event in 2017 and then allowed her to believe she was a doctor as the years passed. She said in her letter: “I included that I was a doctor because I did not want Sheetal to find out that I wasn't.”

She then said her lie escalated and go out of control when she began signing off emails as 'Dr' and using the titles RMO (Resident Medical Officer) and VMO (Visiting Medical Officer). “The emails that I sent from my work account using the signature of ‘doctor’ were to people who Sheetal knew,” she wrote. 

She added: “I felt I couldn't say no or correct Sheetal, because I did not want to disappoint her. I know it was wrong, and I wish that I had been stronger and corrected Sheetal from the outset, and this made me feel like I was living two different lives.”

Karezi then began referring to herself as Dr.Dalya.s on Instagram and TikTok and began offering medical advice to her followers,  but she insisted in her letter that “in doing that, I was sharing publicly available information from NSW Health Direct (the Australian version of the NHS).” She added: “I sourced the material from there because it was reputable, and I was trying to make it more accessible to those in need. I regret my action and understand now that it is a serious offence that could have caused harm. My intentions were never to harm anyone.”

Karezi, who completed a Masters of Reproductive Medicine in 2022, said that she would never work in the healthcare industry again and has now deleted all of her social media accounts. She has been working as an insurance company claims consultant for almost two years, but said expected that she would lose her job if she was convicted.

Her letter ended: “I did not want, and still do not want, to do anything to do with health ever again despite having wasted so many years of my life studying and paying back student loans. I am so terrified of social media now that I do not even want to be on social media at all. I will never have any social media accounts ever again.”