Exclusive: Vast web of fake shops touting designer brands took money and personal details from 800,000 people in Europe and US, data suggests
A trove of data examined by experts indicates the operation is highly organised, technically savvy – and ongoing.
Operating on an industrial scale, programmers have created tens of thousands of fake web shops offering discounted goods from Dior, Nike, Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Versace and Prada, as well as many other premium brands.
Published in multiple languages from English to German, French, Spanish, Swedish and Italian, the websites appear to have been set up to lure shoppers into parting with money and sensitive personal data.
However, the sites have no connection to the brands they claim to sell and in most cases consumers who spoke about their experience said they received no items.
I have bought hundreds of stuff on AE, it’s ok, especially for stuff that are less than $10 that local sellers sell for like $40 for the exact same thing. I got some items in less than a week in Caanda.
I also bought some spare parts from AE, because they were literally nowhere else to be found except for other, more shady chinese websites. I would get spam mails from AE for months though. They’d send it from a different email adress everytime. Multiple mails per day that were unblockable.
So yeah, it s a legit business, but it’s not a good business. Might be worse than amazon.
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I have bought hundreds of stuff on AE, it’s ok, especially for stuff that are less than $10 that local sellers sell for like $40 for the exact same thing. I got some items in less than a week in Caanda.
I also bought some spare parts from AE, because they were literally nowhere else to be found except for other, more shady chinese websites. I would get spam mails from AE for months though. They’d send it from a different email adress everytime. Multiple mails per day that were unblockable.
So yeah, it s a legit business, but it’s not a good business. Might be worse than amazon.