Adverts on social media platforms are tempting shoppers to buy items that don’t exist, are of poor quality or aren’t as described.

There have been a range of cases where people have been misled into purchasing counterfeit and dangerous goods, as well as items that simply never turn up. 

There seems to be no end to these rogue retailers popping up and conning innocent shoppers. They use slick social media adverts showing tempting offers, but what arrives are low-quality alternatives shipped from China. To make matters worse, if you’ve been lured in by a rogue retailer, then your chances of getting your money back are low. 

Sometimes, a rogue retailer can be hard to spot, especially as freely available AI tools can be misused to create convincing images and product descriptions. 

If you’re tempted by an offer you’ve seen online, you should follow these steps before you part with any money:

  1. Assess how reasonable the offer is Prices that sound too good to be true usually are.
  2. Check for signs of a newly created website Use a domain checker, such as who.is, to see when the website was created. If it’s recent, then you should avoid it.
  3. Use TinEye or image search on Google to see if images in adverts and on websites have been used anywhere else on the internet. 
  4. Watch out for poor spelling, bad grammar and phrases that don’t sound right.
  5. See if the website lists a physical address Businesses should have this, as well as a phone number or email address to contact them.
  6. Check if the company’s website lists a shipping and returns policy If it’s legitimate, it should have this.
  7. Look at reviews across several sources to get a sense of the experience of other shoppers.