Australia was left stunned on 14 December when a terrorist attack targeted a Jewish community event at Bondi Beach in Sydney, leaving 16 people dead and 40 injured.
In the aftermath of the event, a retail website claiming affiliation with the tragedy made national headlines, prompting warnings from consumer protection agencies.
These warnings have been repeated after the discovery of a second online retailer, which allegedly made false claims linking the business to the mass shooting.
As reported by 7News, Bondi United, which sells clothing and accessories online, falsely claimed the founders “have a connection with the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, or that the proceeds of sales have been given to the victims or their families.”
The fashion retailer’s websites (www.bondiunited.com/www.bondiproject.com) have been taken offline. Anyone who has experience with the traders and is not satisfied with their interaction is urged to lodge a complaint with NSW Fair Trading.
“However, the NSW Fair Trading Commissioner remains concerned about this trader,” a spokesperson said.
“This trader may seek to re-establish itself at another URL and other traders may take a similar approach.”
Jeweller has reported extensively on the issue of ‘ghost stores’ over the past year – shady online retailers who falsely claim to operate businesses based in Australia. Consumer Action Law Centre legal director Stephen Nowicki said it remains a pressing issue facing local businesses and consumers.
“It becomes harder in these kinds of situations, compared to an outright scam, to know what is a genuine discount versus what someone is presenting as a discount but is actually something not worth what they are promoting it as,” Nowicki said.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has reportedly received hundreds of complaints about these businesses and recently issued a public warning regarding the conduct of these online retailers, highlighting four specific examples.
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