Jeweller has reported extensively on ‘ghost store’ scammers over the past year. These online retailers claim that they operate Australian businesses while being based overseas. Poor product quality, fake reviews, and AI imagery are other common observations.
The ACCC has urged social media companies, such as Meta and Shopify, to strengthen oversight and has advised businesses to carefully verify partners and suppliers.
Deputy chair Catriona Lowe warned that even legitimate retailers can make misleading claims, stressing that platforms must proactively monitor activity and provide timely reporting tools.
"It's enormously important that platforms are proactively seeking to track what's occurring on their platforms as well as providing tools to consumers to report to them and get responses in a timely manner," she said.
Lowe added that AI can "help criminals make more realistic scams and make them more difficult to detect."
According to a report by The Guardian, scam ad reports on Meta have fallen by more than 50 per cent over the past 15 months.
Meta described ghost stores as an "adversarial space" where operators frequently change tactics to avoid detection. The company said it removes violating content once identified and encourages users to report suspicious pages or ads.
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