A network of no fewer than 76,000 fake web shops created in various European countries and the United States has caused more than 800,000 consumers in those countries to be duped. They ordered products that often did not arrive, and also provided their personal details.
This is evident from research by The Guardian, Die Zeit and Le Monde. Criminals from – apparently China – are said to have captured the personal data – including payment card data – of this group of consumers in this way.
The criminals use a well-known recipe: using expired domain names to set up fake shops. These shops posed as suppliers of designer products such as Dior, Nike, Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Versace and Prada. It is not known whether there were also victims in the Netherlands. The research focuses mainly on English, German, French, Spanish, Swedish and Italian stores.
It is common for this type of scam to emerge, but on this scale is exceptional.
No payments
According to the three newspapers, the criminals are mainly interested in customer data, and not in cashing in directly. The researchers spoke to dozens of victims, which showed that this was not a case of counterfeit trafficking. In many cases, the payment was blocked by the bank or not processed by the fake webshop. A few did receive a product, but something completely different from what was ordered.
The researchers link the fake shops to China. Many of the IP addresses can be traced to regions in that country. But it is difficult to find out whether the criminal operation is really run from China.
In countries where the fraudulent web shops are located, efforts are being made to take the shops offline.
