Fake e-commerce sites surge for Black Friday
Canada Goose clothing was sold for 300,000 won ($280) on fake online shopping sites. / Yonhap
By Chyung Eun-ju
Consumers looking forward to big discounts on Black Friday have to be alert for fake e-commerce sites.
With Black Friday just around the corner, the number of fake e-commerce sites promoting huge discounts surged, according to Seoul city on Thursday.
More than 10 cases have been reported to the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center (ECC) by consumers who claim to have been scammed from Nov. 14 to 22.
They involved people being unable to find the contact information of the customer center after purchasing a product, items that were purchased in yuan when the price was in dollars and consumers who could not cancel their order.
Sites reported the most were stores that sold high-priced Canada Goose products such as Parka Store (
) and Parka Outlet (
).
The Canada Goose parkas were priced at 300,000 won ($280) on the fake e-commerce sites when they usually cost over 1 million won ($900).
Several cases involved stores that used Facebook and Instagram ads to promote that they were offering an 80 percent discount.
Scam e-commerce sites have different names in the advertisement on social media or do not allow you to log in again after a purchase. The sites also have reportedly leaked the personal information of consumers who click the “Contact Us” tab and log in.
“It is difficult to verify the sites since scam sites are made for the Black Friday season,” a city spokesperson said. “Consumers tend to trust the sites that allow credit card purchases, but they should carefully check the site.”
Most sites use English to trick consumers into thinking they are foreign.
“Each year during the Black Friday season, many similar online shopping scams repeat,” Seoul city’s Fair Economy Division manager Kim Chang-hyun said. “If the prices seem too heavily discounted, or the site does not show their contact information, people should question the authenticity of the site. Using a site that is well known could prevent scams.
“To prevent the spread of scams, people should immediately report them to the ECC.”