A NEW ONLINE scam involving ads for discount clothes and leather handbags sold by fake retailers is being pushed to social media users in Ireland.
The sophisticated scam, which involves a string of similar ads on Facebook and Instagram, has been operating in Ireland for a number of months.
The ads link to third-party websites that appear to be genuine Irish retailers, and lure shoppers with claims that they are holding clearance sales or offering other discounts.
Some ads for clothes or accessories use AI images of people who supposedly work at the shop in question.
However, the supposed retailers are not legitimate businesses and the goods they are selling are not the same as those being advertised and do not come from Ireland.
The Journal has tracked the scam through thousands of sponsored posts on Meta’s ad library and has found that the scammers are targeting Irish shoppers from abroad.
The …