Our Advice Column: Avoiding fashion retail scams

I bought a jacket online and when it arrived it looked nothing like the images shown. The company said if I want a refund I must pay to ship it to an address in China, but the website claimed the brand was UK-based. Is this a scam and how do I avoid it in future?

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This is a really frustrating situation and unfortunately it’s becoming more common than you might think. It is in fact a type of retail scam and often leads to customers having refund rows with sellers who are misleading people.

These companies are known to convince people they’re based in the UK by using deceiving brand names and having UK websites or postal addresses. Some create AI-generated images of fake products and boutiques - and even go to the trouble of making up backstories about the origins of the brand.

What they actually do, as in your case, is ship low-quality items from overseas that can look nothing like the images advertised. Shoppers are then asked to fork out for expensive international shipping fees if they want their money back.

Understandably, many people don’t bother, because the cost of shipping takes a huge chunk out of the refund they’d receive. The scammers know this, and it’s how they take advantage of people.

When sellers turn out to be based overseas, UK consumer laws are far harder to enforce, so it can be difficult to recover your money.

There are a few steps you can take to help you spot and avoid these scams: ● Research before buying from a company you haven’t used before - check reviews on search engines and third-party websites

            ● Watch out for heavily discounted, too-good-to-be-true prices and “huge closing down” sales

            ● Be mindful of the targeted shopping adverts in your social media feeds - this is often how customers are drawn in

            ● Consider whether images used to advertise an item were created by AI. This can be difficult, but look for overly airbrushed images, inconsistent textures or distortions on the face and body

            ● Check the company’s website delivery information. Overseas stores offer shipping to the UK in a much longer timeframe than a genuine UK-based brand would

If you have been caught out by this type of scam and you paid by debit or credit card, you may be able to get a refund. If you paid by debit card, ask your bank to use the ‘chargeback scheme’.

If you paid by credit card and the item cost less than £100, you can ask to use the same scheme. If you paid by credit card and the item cost between £100 and £30,000, tell your credit card company you want to make a ‘section 75’ claim to get your money back.

The more people that recognise and report these scams, the more can be done. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has the legal power to enforce UK consumer laws against traders which target UK shoppers but are based abroad, but they rely on people reporting it. If a company has broken the law, they can impose fines and website takedowns. You can report an issue to the CMA but they can’t help people with individual cases.

Citizens Advice can offer support with individual situations and we advise you to report scams to us too - please contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service. You can also report an advert you think is a scam to the Advertising Standards Agency.