Earlier this year, Jeweller published an investigation into so-called ‘ghost store’ scammers. These online retailers use a variety of tactics to fool consumers using websites and social media, including falsely promoting closing down sales and providing fraudulent backgrounds for the business and its owners.
A recent report published by the BBC has detailed the plight of a jewellery retailer, Stevie Holmes of Scarlett Jewellery, who has been flooded with complaints from customers of an online retailer with a similar name – Scarlett Jewels. Holmes said she had been receiving daily calls, messages, and emails from Scarlett Jewels customers since July, with a raft of complaints about the other business.
The Scarlett Jewels website [scarlettjewels.com] is littered with AI-generated product images. Despite supposedly being run by an older woman who has created “one last collection” before retiring, the website’s terms and services mention a company named Denimtex Limited, with a registered business address in Hong Kong.
The Scarlett Jewels website also claims that "10,000+ American women have fallen in love with" its items and shows 10 five-star reviews. Holmes said that, despite the distinct differences between these two retailers, many people have taken to social media to unfairly complain about her business.
"I've got to protect the reputation of my genuine business from being mistaken for this awful company,” she told the BBC.
Holmes published an article on her website in July that directly addressed this issue.
“We're always saddened to hear when people are scammed by companies that take their money without shipping products. After investigating, it appears this company may be using AI-generated images and videos of supposedly "retiring jewellers" to sell inferior quality jewellery, often failing to ship orders at all or delaying them for months,” Holmes explained.
“We cannot control what names other companies choose to use. "Scarlett" is a popular name, and we know of several reputable businesses with similar names selling different products - we've never had conflicts or overlapping designs with legitimate companies and welcome fair competition.”
Holmes continued: “However, this particular company appears to have developed a terrible reputation based on our research, including Facebook investigations we've found. Similar companies seem to be emerging, selling products that either don't exist or are of vastly inferior quality compared to what we provide and expect from our craft.”
Professor of digital business management at the University of Sussex, Ana Canhoto, said these scams were becoming increasingly common because they are inexpensive and efficient.
Jeweller recently published a report detailing an Australian retailer’s long-running battle with a fraudster who repeatedly stole intellectual property as part of an opal jewellery scam.
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