Well-orchestrated scam: speakers worth $530 sold on social networks for $2.99

Networks of well-organized fraudsters on Facebook usurp company identities to scam Quebecers by selling counterfeit products at ridiculous prices.

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“My jaw dropped when I saw that. The worst part is that the photo doesn’t even show the environment of our stores. We call the owners to find out who has received returns from defrauded customers,” explains in an interview with THE Newspaper Steve Hart, representative of Long & McQuade stores in Quebec.

This chain specializing in the sale of musical instruments, which has more than 90 stores in Canada, was the victim this month of unscrupulous scammers. They completely stole his trademark, his logo and his address to create a fake Facebook page called “Long & McQuade Musical Instruments”.

The scammers then paid for an ad on Meta’s social network to promote a fraudulent post last week. It announced Marshall brand speakers worth $530 on sale for the modest sum of $2.99.

“Limited quantity of speakers – take advantage!” reads the misleading ad, which was removed from Facebook on Monday after being reported.

Fake customers and fake sites

According to our observations, the Ontario store “Music City Canada” was also the victim of this scam.

Each time, the scammers post a link leading to a fake site that replicates the real web page belonging to the manufacturer Marshall. The only problem is that the domain name of the fraudsters is called “cannabisklutz.com” or “piopioocoee.com”. Internet users are then invited to conclude the transaction with their banking details and fall into the trap.

These thugs also create fake profiles on Meta to trap their victims. We can read several testimonials from “customers” who claim to have received their Marshall speaker in perfect condition.

“I am so happy with this purchase and I recommend it to everyone,” wrote a certain “Selena Torres”, sharing a photo of the device. THE Newspaper then discovered that this Internet user instead usurped the identity of a real Canadian from Calgary.

“We know that our customers may have been victims of this fraud. […] Some called us and sent messages to inform us of the fraudulent pages,” confirms Milad Jalaeian, owner of a Long & McQuade store in Ontario.

Thousands of victims

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Center (CAC) indicates that this online fraud is classified as “counterfeit merchandise.”

“If it’s too good to be true, it’s probably a scam. Be wary of messages that appear and redirect you to other web pages,” warns Jeff Horncastle of the CAC.

The Center confirms that this type of scam caused 6,540 victims across the country in 2023 and 2022. During this same period, Canadians lost nearly $1.5 million by purchasing counterfeit products.

“Fraudulent websites are most often operated by networks that are very difficult to identify and that constantly change their name, location, etc. Our agents will generally redirect the complainant to the police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center,” says Charles Tanguay, spokesperson for the Office of Consumer Protection (OPC).

How to avoid the online traps of these scammers?

• Use a credit card when shopping online as protection is offered to customers and they might even get a refund.
• Be wary of deals that are too good to be true.
• Carry out checks on the real identity of the merchant, their contact details, their reputation, the possibility of speaking on the phone with a customer service representative, etc.

Source: Consumer Protection Office and Canadian Anti-Fraud Center