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SCAM ADVERTISEMENTS THAT use artificial intelligence to masquerade as independent shops in Ireland are continuing to run online, despite previous complaints about similar cons.
The ads, various versions of which are running on Meta platforms Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, appeal to the consumer’s sympathy, citing financial hardship, break-ins or tragic fires as the reason for the closure of the ‘family-run’ stores.
One shop, ‘Walsh Kildare’, has multiple ads running. One claims they are closing down because of a recent fire, while another says they’re closing because of a break-in.
The websites the ads link to are only a few months old and people who have purchased from them say the goods are cheap and come from China, not Ireland.
It’s a new take on scam ads that have been around for months, where text and images are generated by artificial intelligence, some with more convincing results than others.
Some of the ads have obvious AI generated images. This can be identified by dramatic imagery, bad spelling on signs and inconsistent details.
Other ads use generic stock photos of shops, people and clothing.
When you search for the shops on Google, no physical store shows up. They also don’t have a physical address on the website.
When looking at the Facebook pages that posted the ads, you can see under ‘page transparency’ that they’re not moderated from an Irish location, but rather countries such as the United States and Vietnam.
Users can report ads they believe violate Meta’s policies by clicking the three dots in the upper right hand corner of the ad.
The scams go against Meta’s rules. It claims it doesn’t “allow advertisers to run ads that promote products, services, schemes or offers that use identified deceptive or misleading practices, including scams to take money from people or access personal information”.
Meta declined to comment on the continuous presence of the ads on its platforms.
Aidens Kildare is another fake shop that is “closing down”. Its site, aidenskildare.com, was created less than five months ago, according to a domain age checker.
The quality of the clothing has been described as “dire” on Trustpilot, and several people say they waited months for a refund, or weren’t given one at all.
On Trustpilot, where customers can leave reviews of companies, 97% of people gave “Aidan’s Kildare” a 1-star rating (the lowest one can give), with several customers accusing the shop of scamming.
“Total scammers!! You will receive junk from China,” they wrote.
“They say you can keep item and they’ll give you 30% off next purchase! When you finally get a return address it’s in China and you have to pay to return, and even with tracking, they say they haven’t received it.”
Another unhappy customer wrote: ”Avoid this store when you see advert on Facebook or elsewhere!!! Bloody scammers pretending to be an Irish company.
“Took 1 month for sub standard jackets to arrive from China. My arms couldn’t even get through the ill- fitted cheap quality clothes.”
One customer said Aidan’s Kildare is “false advertising”, as there’s “no such shop in Kildare”.
Moda Kildare is another shop that operates using the same scamming techniques. Its logo has the colours of the Irish flag underneath it, but customers say it’s not based in Ireland at all.
Its website was created only four months ago, and reviews report it selling “cheap crap” at a relatively high price.
The fake websites are an example of dropshipping, where a seller accepts orders without keeping stock on hand or having a physical shop.
The seller transfers the orders and their shipment details either to the manufacturer, a wholesaler, another retailer, or a fulfillment house, which then ships the goods directly to the customer.
The Journal previously asked the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) about what a person should do if they think they have been duped by one of these websites.
The commission said that anyone who believes they have been scammed should immediately contact their bank or credit card issuer, who can place their account and card on hold while they investigate the problem.
Anyone who has been caught by a scam should contact Gardaí, who have advice about online shopping fraud and how to avoid scams on their website.
Coimisiún na Meán, which regulates online platforms in Ireland, also said that when users discover something that they think is illegal or against a platform’s rules, they should report it to the relevant platform.
If a person can’t find a way to do this or if they’re unhappy with how the platform has responded to them, they can contact the commission.
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