A small-business owner from Queensland recently fell victim to an online scam after purchasing clothing from a fake website that mimicked an Australian fashion retailer – but the scammer gave her a consolation “gift”.
After discovering that her size was no longer available in-store, Camille Warfield turned to Google to search for the item online.
However, unbeknown to her, the link she clicked on was a copycat version of the Australian fashion retailer DECJUBA’s website.
Warfield purchased a puffer jacket and matching tracksuit for $120, taking advantage of an end-of-financial-year sale advertised on the fake website.
However, after receiving a “dodgy” confirmation email, she quickly realised that she had been scammed.
Despite contacting her bank, Warfield could not recover her lost money as she had authorised the payment.
Just weeks later, she received a notification from Australia Post confirming that a parcel was on its way to her home address.
Upon opening the package, Warfield was surprised to find a small jewellery box containing a cheap-looking ring.
In a TikTok video, Warfield said, “This is a story about how I got scammed. I’m not someone that gets scammed easy … Anyway joke’s on me.”
“If I had known that copycat websites were a thing, then I would have been a little bit more suspicious,” she said.
“I knew about text scams and email scams, and I’m so good at spotting them. But I wasn’t aware that there were copycat websites out there.”
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch website, scammers often set up fake websites or profiles on legitimate retailer sites, offering products or services at prices that are too good to be true.
They may also post fake ads and fake reviews and use stolen logos, domain names and business numbers to deceive consumers.
A spokesperson for DECJUBA told 7 Newsthe company was aware of the fake sites and encouraged customers to only shop online at its official links – decjuba.com, decjuba.com.au and decjuba.co.nz.
Scamwatch advises consumers to always check that they are paying the correct people or businesses when buying or selling products and services online.
Scammers often set up stores that look real, or profiles to sell popular items.
They may offer products on their own fake websites or a popular store’s cloned or copy website.
They also sell through their social media profile or store or through a profile on a legitimate selling platform like Amazon.
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The watchdog encourages consumers to be cautious when shopping online, and only to use reputable websites and payment methods.
They also recommend that consumers keep their personal and financial information secure and never give out their passwords or other sensitive information to third parties.
As for Ms Warfield, she is taking the incident in stride, jokingly asking in her TikTok video: “Is it still a scam if they sent me something?”
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