"Over 80% Discount" Louis Vuitton Scam Sites
Secretly Posting Promotional Posts After Hijacking SNS Accounts
Operating by Changing Only the Address... Repeated Hacking Incidents
Consumer Agency Advises "Check for Fraud on Websites in Advance"
[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Jinsuji, a 29-year-old office worker (alias), recently came across a post shared by an acquaintance while browsing Facebook. The post claimed that luxury brand Louis Vuitton products were being sold at a discount on an overseas online site. When she accessed the site through the posted link, she saw a product priced at 2 million won being sold for 300,000 won. Before making a payment, Jinsuji searched for information about the site and found reviews stating it was a scam. When she asked her acquaintance, "Why did you post a promotion for a scam site?" the reply was, "I have no idea."
A ‘scam site’ has emerged, fraudulently selling Louis Vuitton products at discounted prices. The method involves hacking a specific person’s social networking service (SNS) account and promoting the scam site link without the account owner’s knowledge.
This site, which uses an overseas domain, allows buyers to enter their information similarly to regular overseas direct purchase sites, and has a sophisticated payment system using PayPal or Visa cards. It advertises that most products are sold at discounts of 70-80% or more. Products normally priced at 2.5 million won are listed at prices in the 200,000 won range, an abnormally low price.
Recently, photos and links promoting this site have been repeatedly posted on Facebook. It is presumed that accounts of people who have not accessed SNS for a long time are being hijacked for promotion. Many posts tag friends already registered as contacts, creating the illusion that an acquaintance is recommending the site. This is a more advanced tactic than previously simply using sponsored pages to carry out scams. The site is understood to continuously operate by frequently changing its address while maintaining a similar homepage format.
In such cases, victims who make payments often experience delayed shipping, after which the original site is shut down and a similar site is launched again. There have also been numerous reports of hacking victims. When the reporter directly contacted those who posted promotional content for the site and asked, "Did you post this yourself?" most responded, "I think I was hacked."
A Louis Vuitton representative said, "We are currently investigating whether the headquarters is aware of this." A representative from the Korea Consumer Agency advised, "If the discount rate is too high or if you are directed to a purchase page through SNS, you should be suspicious."
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