28 Cases of Damage Reported Since Mid-Last Month
Consumer Agency: "Be Suspicious If Prices Are Excessively Low"
Recently, there have been continuous reports of damages related to overseas shopping malls impersonating the famous fashion brand 'Coach'.
According to the Korea Consumer Agency on the 8th, since mid-last month, there have been 28 reported cases related to this on the 'International Transaction Consumer Portal'. It is presumed that the shopping malls are operated by a single business operator, as their internet addresses and email addresses are identical.
There have been 20 consultation cases reporting damages from the shopping mall with the internet address (URL) 'coachoutletdeals.shop', and 8 consultation cases related to 'coachoutletsale.shop'. The business operator's email is the same: 'support@ltsmrd.top'.
Just by looking at the internet address, it is easy to mistake it for an outlet site of the Coach brand. However, the Korea Consumer Agency confirmed with Coach that these sites are completely unrelated to Coach. It is also impossible to verify whether the products sold on these shopping malls are genuine.
These shopping malls lure consumers by selling bags and wallets, which normally cost several hundred thousand won at regular prices, for 10,000 to 20,000 won. They also use marketing tactics that display a discount time limit (72 hours) to rush consumers into purchasing.
There is no purchase cancellation button on these sites, so once payment is made, the order cannot be canceled. Even if consumers send emails to the seller later requesting cancellation, they receive no response. Currently, it seems difficult to provide relief for damages as there is no way to verify the seller's information.
The Consumer Agency warned, "Consumer damages related to famous brand products purchased after seeing advertisements on social networking services (SNS) continue to occur," urging caution. They also emphasized, "When encountering an overseas shopping mall for the first time, first verify whether the seller is trustworthy, and be cautious if products are sold at prices excessively lower than the market price, as they are likely counterfeit or scams."
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