Yahoo Finance Major scam warning for every Aussie Facebook user: 'Sophisticated'
Convincing fake e-shops are fooling Australian consumers.
If you've been tempted by a tantalising deal from your favourite brand advertised on social media — you may well be in the sights of an online scammer. The fraudsters create web pages so similar to the original sites that many shoppers can't tell the difference.
They will try to lure you in with offers of up to 90 per cent off, which can be hard to resist as the cost of living crisis continues to hit. But this is how online shopping scammers stole $14.9 million from hard-working Aussies last year.
A “mid-year sale” for Aussie retailer Sussan offering clothing for $7 was among the 4,000 fake e-shops recently uncovered by cyber security company Avast.
People are landing on the sites as they are clicking through from sites like Facebook, where ads show up.
“It’s a scam. I got caught out on this, then five days later, they emptied my bank account,” one person claimed.
'Don't click on ads on Facebook': Expert's scam warning
Stephen Kho, cyber security expert for Avast, told Yahoo Finance shoppers could easily be scammed because the fake sites often mimic the design of the real ones "almost exactly".
But there are a few tell-tale signs to spotting a fake.
“Shoppers should be cautious if a website has a strangely designed layout, contains numerous spelling or grammatical errors, lacks contact information, or if the deals seem too good to be true,” he said.
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He advised the best way to avoid being scammed is to not click on ads on social media, but rather visit the store’s site directly instead.
“Verify the shop/brand’s genuine domain name by performing an online search and comparing the real company domain name with the e-shop you are about to buy from,” he said.
“Fake-shop domain names can be subtly different to the real site. For example, a misspelling or a different spelling of a word such as www.flightcenter.com.au as opposed to www.flightcentre.com.au.”
A customer can be scammed once they make a purchase, and either their personal or payment information is stolen after creating a customer account or paying for an order.
Other times people will just get dud products.
"Sometimes, you will receive the item you paid for, but it will be fake. Other times, you will receive nothing at all," a spokesman for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) told Yahoo Finance.
Major brands like Carhartt, Doc Martens, Max Mara, Mulberry, Samsonite, Skims have been imitated.
Facebook responds to scam allegations
When Yahoo Finance contacted Meta for comment about the scam ads hosted on Facebook a spokesperson said that "scammers use every platform available to them to defraud people".
“They constantly adapt to evade enforcement," the spokesperson said.
"Content that purposefully intends to deceive or exploit others for money violates our policies, and we remove this content when it’s found.
"We continue to invest in detection technology and share information with law enforcement so they can prosecute scammers, and information we receive from law enforcement helps us better address scams.”
Shoppers furious at being caught out by thieves
Many Aussies have expressed their frustration at losing money to these scams online when they were already doing it tough.
“This happened to me with St Frock. Site looked EXACTLY like theirs, the only ticker was that the website link had ever so slightly different spelling. It was honestly a great scam,” one person warned.
“I got done on one of these for Just Jeans! I felt so stupid!” another wrote.
“I do a Google search for a website now after getting scammed by a mirror site for Strandbags,” a scam victim added.
What should I do if I think I’ve been scammed?
Kho said victims need to act immediately if they've been scammed.
“If you suspect you have shopped at a scam site, immediately contact your financial institution to report the incident, cancel the card you used and dispute any unauthorised transactions,” he said.
“It's crucial to change passwords for any accounts used during the transaction."
You can report the scam to Scamwatch here and make an official complaint to police here.
Watch out for follow up scams, particularly ones promising they can get your money back. Scamwatch warned one in three victims of a scam are scammed more than once.
Lastly, get support for yourself. You can talk to a financial counsellor or reach out to BeyondBlue on 1300 22 4636 or here for an online chat or Lifeline for crisis support online here on 13 11 14.
You can also contact IDCARE to “reduce the harm they experience from the compromise and misuse of their identity information by providing effective response and mitigation”.
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