t was seen to be concerning, but more for entertainment purposes. But AI-generated images and videos of celebrities endorsing products present even more potential pitfalls for brands in this new era of online fraud. Recent reports of Meta ads containing a deep-fake of popstar royalty Taylor Swift endorsing Le Creuset cookware, a brand she admittedly loves, but does not have a commercial affiliation with, make clear that this issue is a pressing one. Fake fashion e-shops According to researchers at Avast, an internet security company, more than 4000 fake e-shops were set-up to exploit consumer spending in the post-festive season sales. Major global fashion retailers including Max Mara, Carhartt, Samsonite, Ted Baker, Veja and Merrell are reportedly among the victims of the great imitation scheme. The method by which scammers obtain profits from consumers is as alarming, as they skim and store personal and payment details at multiple steps of the supposed customer experience when people create an account or attempt to pay for the items they believe they will receive. Scammers lure consumers in with enticing discounted prices on products that are advertised and targeted towards them just like any other legitimate business would on social media, search engines and other online channels. The holiday period is the optimal time for scammers to disguise their paid advertisements and significantly reduced prices, which otherwise might cause customers to think twice, as legitimate offers, through the alignment with retail peak seasons such as Black Friday, Boxing Day and End of Financial Year sales. Stephen Kho, cyber security expert at Avast told Inside Retail, “Shopping post-Christmas sales brings with it a slew of online shopping deals, which can be a wonderfully convenient way to check off a wishlist. However, it is also a feeding ground for cyber criminals who prey on Australians’ eagerness for a bargain.” Unbelievable deals create a sense of urgency for consumers to pull the trigger to purchase and cloud their better judgement, especially during the ‘Twixmas’ period, which is what PayPal calls the disorientated time between Christmas and the eventual urge to start the new year. “Last year saw a record number of scams and with the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI), they are growing in number and sophistication. Aided by the new technology, fake online storefronts, dodgy social media ads, marketplace swindlers, and bargain-themed phishing attempts will run rampant this holiday season, so it is important Australians are equipped with the tools and knowledge to avoid any personal or financial harm,” said Kho. How do elaborate scams like this case of stolen identity work? Directing consumers to fake e-shops that pose as legitimate brands or retailers to generate sales that never arrive and only to skim your credit cards simultaneously is a rising trend in the scammer’s repertoire. If customers are lucky, they may receive an unrelated item in the mail. Most likely their account details will be taken and used to continuously debit money from their account until they notice – in addition to the initial price of the product that never existed. The concern and cost of fraud Online scammers stole more than $400,000 from Western Australian online shoppers alone in 2023, Consumer Protection Media revealed. Nationally in the year prior, over $9 million was lost to online shopping scams according to the National Anti-Scam Centre. Three-quarters of Australian consumers voiced they are more concerned about their online safety in comparison to the year prior, which suggests it is not the lack of awareness that is the concern anymore, but the challenge of identifying deep fakes. This is supported by the fact that two in five Australians have abandoned online purchases in the last year due to security concerns, or because their preferred payment option was not available at the checkout, according to PayPal 2023 online security research. For Australian small businesses, research suggests that the top areas of increased concern are scams becoming more sophisticated (53 per cent), the safety and security of business data held by other organisations (43 per cent), cyber criminals impersonating suppliers (41 per cent), vendors and service providers, business bank accounts becoming compromised (41 per cent) and the cost and complexity of staying ahead of cyber criminals (40 per cent). Distracted shopping catches consumers off-guard Additional downtime can also facilitate distracted shopping at ‘Twixmas’ with scams able to penetrate through consumers’ usual defences. PayPal’s research found that half of under 40s shop from bed at the end of the day (51 per cent), or whilst engaged with a second screen (46 per cent), a third (35 per cent) said they shop online for “retail therapy” and 34 per cent checking out online out of boredom. With the rise of scams, consumers are increasing their personal online security, with 81 per cent analysing emails and text messages and 74 per cent turning on two-factor authentication. Social media has further copped bad publicity in addition to the usual doom-scrolling statistics, with 48 per cent of Australians agreeing that social media is less secure for making online purchases and 45 per cent only using it as a means to browse as opposed to buying. Commissioner for consumer protection Trish Blake encouraged online shoppers to undertake extra scrutiny of online sites posing as retailers, to be cautious of cheap prices and to read the reviews, “Major sales events are a chance for scammers to prey on excited shoppers looking for a deal, so it’s important to be careful,” said Blake.