A NEW ONLINE scam involving ads for discount clothes and leather handbags sold by fake retailers is being pushed to social media users in Ireland.
The sophisticated scam, which involves a string of similar ads on Facebook and Instagram, has been operating in Ireland for a number of months.
The ads link to third-party websites that appear to be genuine Irish retailers, and lure shoppers with claims that they are holding clearance sales or offering other discounts.
Some ads for clothes or accessories use AI images of people who supposedly work at the shop in question.
However, the supposed retailers are not legitimate businesses and the goods they are selling are not the same as those being advertised and do not come from Ireland.
The Journal has tracked the scam through thousands of sponsored posts on Meta’s ad library and has found that the scammers are targeting Irish shoppers from abroad.
The origins of the scam are unclear, but similar ads for fake retailers are being run on Meta’s platforms in other countries.
At least eight different pages are currently running the ads on Facebook and Instagram in Ireland that link to these fake fashion retailers.
One such page, Murray-Ireland, has attracted a slew of complaints from angry customers saying that ‘artisan handbags’ they ordered were made from cheap plastic, or that parcel tracking notices referred to China even though the business says it is based in Dublin.
Meta’s ad library shows that the page has run hundreds of ads for fake products on Facebook, Instagram and Facebook Messenger since June.
Dozens of these ads are currently active on the three platforms, including a series of posts which suggest the ‘shop’ is a family business that specialises in “handmade bags”, run by a couple who are closing their online store.
A series of ads with an AI-generated image of a couple have a caption reading: “Unfortunately my husband and I have decided to stop. We are selling the latest collection of our handmade bags at 50% off.”
However, although the link to the Murray-Ireland website takes users to a page that only features leather bags, other sections on the website feature men’s and women’s clothing in a layout similar to the websites of other high street fashion retailers
Older ads from Murray Dublin show that it previously advertised standard clothing, further indicating that it is not a family-run handbag business.
Its website also lists Dublin’s Grafton Street as its address, though it does not contain a specific street number.
Records from the Company Registration Office show that there is no business called Murray Dublin with a registered address on Grafton Street, and no shop with that name was found in a search of Grafton Street on Google Maps.
Page transparency information also shows that the two admins who run the Murray-Dublin profile on Facebook are based in the United States.
Two other variations of the Murray-Dublin page also exist, with the same information linking to the same third-party website, where users have also made similar complaints about products they’ve ordered.
One of these pages, Murray Dublin, has changed its name twice since being set up: it was first called Linda Lee when it was set up in September 2022, before changing its name to Bold – Kopenhamn in June 2023 and finally becoming Murray Dublin in May this year.
The scam works through Meta’s sponsored posts feature, which allows any page on Facebook or Instagram to advertise in the feeds of ordinary users of either platform.
The ads link to third-party websites which purport to belong to legitimate Irish-owned fashion retailers, and look similar to the online stores of well-known high street brands.
Each of the websites are individual to the page that is advertising on Facebook or Instagram, giving the impression that they are unique brands – though they all share similar features which indicate that they are part of a wider scam.
Shoppers are initially drawn in with the lure of products that the ads claim are discounted, but every item on each of the websites is listed as being reduced in price.
All of the websites create a further sense of urgency by showing banner messages on their home pages that say ‘discounts’ are only valid in the current week or that their ‘sale’ is ending soon.
Likewise, shoppers who click into individual items are told about dwindling stock and are urged to buy soon because there is a “high order volume” on that particular product.
Although items on each website are offered at ‘discounted’ rates, they are also listed at prices that do not seem suspiciously cheap.
The vast majority of items on each website are priced between €30 and €50, but some items are more expensive and could easily see shoppers paying three-figure sums for multiple fraudulent items.
One website features a leather handbag for sale for €69.95; another website advertises a men’s bomber jacket for €74.95; and a third purports to sell a pair of men’s shoes for €59.95.
To add to the veneer of legitimacy, the websites feature location information for the ‘shop’, a contact phone number, details of their opening hours and customer service feedback forms.
The bottom of each page also contains links to things like a Terms of Service, a Privacy Policy, a Shipping Policy and even application sections for job-seekers.
Shoppers who get as far as paying for items are even given an option to choose optional ‘shipping insurance’ and to insert the numbers of discount codes and gift cards that presumably don’t exist.
Scam websites advertising to Irish users on Meta’s platforms go to other lengths to present themselves as legitimate.
Like Murray Dublin, they will contain information about people who are supposedly behind the business but who don’t actually exist.
Another page, Maud Kildare, has also run hundreds of ads on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger since June and purports to be run by two sisters, with images on its Facebook profile of the Kildare Village shopping outlet.
However, some of its advertising copy is almost identical to the copy in ads run by the Murray-Dublin page.
Multiple ads for Maud Kildare currently running on the three platforms say: “Unfortunately my sister and I have been forced to close our shop. We are selling the latest collection of our coats collection with 50% off.”
Page transparency information also shows that four admins of the Maud Kildare page on Facebook are based in Vietnam, with another based in the Netherlands.
The page is also listed as being created in 2022, when it was originally set up under the name “Xmdn Auto Tullm14q55a”, but changed its name to Maud Kildare in August.
Faisean Dublin, another page which has run hundreds of ads on Meta’s platforms, purports to be based in Dundrum, though its two Facebook admins are based in the Netherlands and no such business can be found in the Dublin suburb on Google Maps.
Its homepage says that the business is run by two women called Siobhán and Niamh, who have “a passion for Dublin’s rich culture and a keen eye for fashion”.
The blurb is accompanied by a picture of two women in bright clothing that implies they are the Siobhán and Niamh who are being referred to, though a Google reverse image search shows that it is a stock image.
Although each of the pages running scam ads on Facebook in Ireland link to individual websites, a comparison between them suggests that they are part of a wider network.
In most cases, the products featured on websites are discounted for half price and the reduced prices always end in 95c.
Several sites feature fake positive reviews from the website Trustpilot, which are embedded as images; these images cannot be found when searching for the businesses on Trustpilot (though reviews calling out the websites as a scam do feature).
Many also have a banner at the top telling shoppers that their discounts will end on the day the user visits, though these claims were spotted on multiple days that The Journal visited the websites this week.
In one case, a page called Vogue Dublin has a countdown timer saying its sale will end when the clock reaches zero, though the timer simply resets to 10 minutes after that point.
Some websites also repeat the same poor English at the bottom of their home page.
Doherty Kildare, which advertises as Doherty Dublin on Facebook, states proudly at the bottom of its homepage that “We devote more than 20 years to provide excellent service to our customers”.
An almost identical blurb is also found at the bottom of Vogue Dublin’s homepage, which says: “We devote more than 35 years to providing excellent service to our customers.”
The Journal asked the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) about what a person should do if they think they have been duped by one of these websites.
The commission said that anyone who believes they have been scammed should immediately contact their bank or credit card issuer, who can place their account and card on hold while they investigate the problem.
Anyone who has been caught by a scam should contact Gardaí, who have advice about online shopping fraud and how to avoid scams on their website.
Coimisiún na Meán, which regulates online platforms in Ireland, also said that when users discover something that they think is illegal or against a platform’s rules, they should report it to the relevant platform.
If a person can’t find a way to do this or if they’re unhappy with how the platform has responded to them, they can contact the commission.
A spokesperson also said that major social media companies have an obligation to ensure that they act on reports of illegal content and enforce rules about what is not allowed on their services.
Meta said it was “looking into” the relevant websites and it’s understood the company is also looking at their advertisements on its platforms.
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