Scam Alerts: Beware of Urgent Clearance Sales on Facebook and Instagram
Scammers are increasingly using Facebook and Instagram to post fraudulent ads about clearance sales, exploiting a sense of urgency to lure potential customers. These ads might tell the story of an elderly couple retiring after decades in business or a saddened clothing retailer needing to liquidate his inventory.
These situations are presented as unfortunate yet fortunate opportunities for consumers to snag deals on items like discounted leather jackets or half-price merino wool sweaters from a supposedly closing business.
However, these enticing offers on social media are often nothing more than scams. Consumers may end up paying for goods that never arrive or receiving items that are of significantly lower quality than advertised, such as a jacket or sweater that looks nothing like what was shown online.
Marta Mallavibarrena, a cybersecurity expert from Madrid, noticed a red flag when she observed multiple stores on Instagram using identical wording about their closures. Upon investigating, she discovered that 50,000 ads had employed the same phrase, with 1,600 still active. These accounts were usually new or had recently changed their profile names.
While using similar marketing phrases is not illegal, Mallavibarrena pointed out that these ads often stole real images from reputable businesses to falsely advertise their products.
“The sites are industrialised social engineering – leveraging cheap ads, fake urgency and rapid rebranding to take money from thousands of consumers before disappearing,” said Serpil Hall, a consultant specializing in fraud and economic crime.
In cases where products are actually shipped, they often come from large, inexpensive online retailers or drop shipping businesses, which do not maintain their own inventory but send products directly from third-party suppliers to consumers.
“Even if you receive something, it likely won’t match the advertisement,” explained Mallavibarrena. “It might be a polyester T-shirt with a printed pattern instead of a genuine knitted sweater.”
Hall highlighted that numerous accounts are set up to exploit emotional language and a sense of urgency, drawing shoppers in quickly. In many cases, the promised goods are never sent, or the items that do arrive are counterfeit or of poor quality, sourced from low-cost suppliers. These accounts are frequently abandoned or renamed once negative feedback accumulates.
Recognizing the Scam
The typical scam post will announce that a business is closing down and has limited stock available, using the scarcity principle to make the items seem more valuable. Larger discounts might be offered for purchasing multiple items.
These accounts often appear professional and authentic at first glance. They may list an address or include a city name in their profile to appear credible. However, these profiles can easily use fictitious information and AI-generated images of supposed founders or staff.
In one case identified by the consumer advocacy group Which?, a shop named Thompson Oxford claimed to be closing due to inability to compete with larger retailers, expressing sorrow and desperation to liquidate its stock.
“These websites aren’t sophisticated,” stated Hall. “They are examples of industrialized social engineering that use cheap advertising, fabricated urgency, and quick rebranding to defraud thousands before vanishing.”
How to Protect Yourself
The old saying “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is” holds particularly true here. Scammers count on quick reactions from bargain hunters.
Take a moment to critically evaluate ads. Reviewing the comments on the profile can provide insights into whether others have received their orders and the quality of the products.
Use tools like Meta’s ad library to check if the ad’s text appears elsewhere or conduct a reverse image search to see where the images are being used. This can help identify if the ad is part of a broader scam.
If you suspect a scam, you can report misleading or fraudulent content directly to Meta, as their policy prohibits ads that promote deceptive or misleading practices meant to scam people out of money or personal information.
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