Social Media Scam

because knowledge is power

This is not art related (😳) but I’ve brushed up against a social media scam twice in a week and thought I’d let you all know it’s out there, trying to crack our wallets.

A friend clicked an ad for a sale at a store that he’s purchased from in the past, happy to see that they were offering deep discounts. He ordered from the completely legitimate-looking site which had options for sizes and colours of clothing articles and which went so far as to send him a postal tracking number for his goods. His credit card was charged.

When the goods didn’t arrive, he went online to the company and asked about his order. They had no record of it. He lost money and had to replace his credit card.

This scam is not, apparently, unique. Scammers clone legitimate sites, or create sites that look very real, and advertise them on social media. People click through and give their credit card numbers and personal details and then either nothing arrives, or junk objects do. In my friend’s case, he received - bizarrely - a junk jewelry ring a few weeks later. In some twisted way, this part of the operation allows scammers to then say that Fred Smith in Podunk, Canada was a verified purchaser and to write a fake, glowing review for the trinket, thereby lending legitimacy to their other online offerings. And so the scamming continues.

I almost fell for it today when the cutest damned coat caught my eye in an Instagram ad. I clicked to the professional-looking site and found lots of cute clothes. Luckily, I also decided to google the shop. Absolutely nothing appeared about it, except for their website. Since it was purporting to be doing a final sell off after 31 years in business, this didn’t seem credible. And, it wasn’t. A reverse image search of the coat showed me the exact same picture under several different brand and store names in many countries. Perhaps one is real? Not worth discovering which one!

Then I found this article which confirmed my suspicion and, once again, made me doubt the inherent goodness of humanity. The article is about the website TaylorToronto, whereas mine was ClarkCalgary, but same goods, and same website going out of business after 31 years. It was just customization by city🙄.

When another delightful coat catches my eye, I won’t click through from the ad. I’ll search the company via google and buy only if they pass the sniff test. Hopefully, that will be enough to keep me from scammers, but, I can foresee a future where I’m back to pre-online ordering days and buying from brick and mortar stores in my city. It will give me peace of mind and it will be good for local businesses.

And now, to the studio.

Stay safe and happy painting!