AIBU - I Think I've just been scammed by a fake Seasalt webpage

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Facebook are to blame. They take money from scammers, to promote scams.

Were any of us on this thread actually "hunting out cheap prices through a third party website"? I suspect not. I remember at least one person who was apparently referred to the scam site after Googling for the real one.

Rather than "hunting out cheap prices," many of us would have been online doing something else entirely (paying bills, sending messages, reading news etc..) and also had a Facebook window open. We probably weren't planning to buy anything until we noticed an advert from a retailer we liked and might have used before and clicked on it speculatively.

What I have learned this week is not that many of us aren't doing "due diligence" but that scam ads can be so close to the real thing as to be indistinguishable to the casual gaze, which is all that most of us give while scrolling. We only engage our brains fully and do anything remotely like "hunting" for an intentional major purchase.

There are tailored ads across all kinds of sites these days, many of them genuine. I've safely purchased online from Bravissimo and Rapanui this year by following ads on a third-party site (admittedly not Facebook) but don't think I'll be doing this again.

When the real and fake converge like this and trust evaporates, I feel online adverts themselves become redundant. Perhaps this is the beginning of the end for casual online shopping, at least via social media ads. Probably no bad thing from a sustainability perspective.

Of course people should do due diligence but so should FB. It's an absolute joke that they allow these scams and fake links and take zero responsibility, they couldn't give a shit.

I really hope this changes and FB starts being held to account

It's all well and good blaming Facebook but how about people doing their own due diligence? Hunting out cheap prices linked through a third party website is unlikely to end well.

Use the companies official web page or buy from a seller that gives you protection such as Ebay or Amazon.

There are complex scams out there that can catch anybody out but this is not one of them.

Seasalt not closing ! Please do not be duped by this scam website! If it’s too good a bargain, it’s because it’s not real! …..

❤️

@Askingforafriendtoday I meant when using Apple Pay. You need to use either facial recognition or put in your own passcode

I don't think you need facial recognition to set up Apple Pay, (may be wrong) but I think you do need a mob phone number associated with your account
My advice would be not to give a mob number as your phone contact on your bank account, just put any landline. Genuine banks do not phone you, more likely a secure message sent to you on your account.
Scammers know your mob phone number from the initial interaction with you

Hi @BingoMarieHeeler I've also ordered from that sale. I'm having something shipped from Hong Kong 🤷 I've cancelled my credit card. How did you get your refund? I've reported it three times to Facebook but they said it complies with their advertising standards

Surely you need facial recognition for Apple Pay though?

I reported this to Facebook a few days ago.

I'm someone who has said that it was an obvious scam and I knew it was a scam instantly but that doesn't mean I'm smug about it. I'm interested in things like this and watch and listen to a lot of consumer shows. If you were taken in by this then I think it would be good to use it as a wake up call to educate yourself and be more skeptical.
There are some scams where the scammers have lots of your personal details where even the most skeptical of people can fall down of.
There are dozens of examples where all sorts of highly educated people get scammed and there was even an ex policeman on Money Box who had been scanned out of a large amount.

I think everyone needs to be extremely careful and take time to learn about scams.

AI is going to make it even more difficult not to get scammed. 🫤

This, exactly. They make (even more) money from these sites.

They are on Instagram too. I nearly fell for it, then checked the contact details and it was just an odd name. If the offers too good to be true, best leave alone.

Totally this! I think this one (and the other ones mentioned) work because we actually want those goods, we value the brands. I really like Seasalt, I was sad to see they were doing badly (emotional response), I was careful to not go in via Facebook but Google unhelpfully got me to the fake page (reassurance), I wanted a bargain (practical response), there was a countdown timer (handily distracting me from checking it out fully till I got to the checkout)...It's a really good scam.

I hope Seasalt is paying attention, they've got a ton of free mentions on social media for this hahahah At least they know we love 'em.

I hope nobody still really believes that it's only old people who fall for scams...

As a couple of people have said, a clue is the very cheap price and the amazing availability of every size and every option!

for those who are smug - just wait. My dad fell for a caller taking over his computer 5 years ago. He was undergoing treatment for cancer from which he died shortly after. He was anxious, confused and distracted. He was also devastated to have fallen for it as he considered himself a smart man which he was, but he was also a smart man at a low ebb. And that’s what these fraudsters play on. Cast the net wide enough and you will catch people just like my dad. They are then left feeling distressed so the impact is more than financial.

I saw that on Fb - luckily I noticed the website was not correct, as it was misspelt, but it looked convincing at first glance. I did add a comment that it was fake, but with so many posts and comments, it wouldn't be seen.

My husband mentioned to me yesterday that Seasalt were closing stores due to bad results. I googled and this thread came up. I tend not to buy from Facebook/Instagram ads but go to the website.

I don't think you will get your money back but cancel your card asap and get a new one .

The page I saw was nothing like that, it looked like a legitimate website. Yes, things were cheap and as the saying goes if it looks too good to be true then it probably is. There were no spelling mistakes or grammatical errors as that definitely would have sent red flags. But it can and does happen to anyone. You can't make people feel any worse than they already do for being a victim of scumbag scammers.

The site I had a link to (I didn't actually go to the site) is not the same one as that shown at the bottom of your first picture. I think the one I saw was seasalt-Cornwall . Co . Uk and other people have mentioned an extra S in the one they saw.

We fell for this scam because we're human, not because we're somehow stupid or inferior to you in our online security or internet shopping skills.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

The "Only stupid people fall for scams" posters are judgemental, smug and unpleasant.
Glad I don't know anyone like that in real life.

The site a lot of us fell for was very, very similar to the real website, using the same images, descriptions and layouts. I don't remember seeing the images you posted so assume there are several variations. Only the address with the extra "S" in the title and the claim of a "buy 6 for £XX" due to "closing stores" and/or "end of season sale" were significantly different.

The red flags were more subtle, like availability of every size, lack of a PayPal payment option, or inclusion of clearly very high-quality items in the bundle. Six plain cotton T-shirts for the advertised price? That's credible. Six cashmere sweaters? It should have rung alarm bells.

I've never in my life before fallen for a scam website, email, SMS, letter etc.. Yesterday, like others on the thread, perhaps I was tired, hungry, in a rush and/or over-confident due to being a previous Seasalt customer. After this, I will likely never click through an ad again, whether on Facebook or elsewhere. We fell for this scam because we're human, not because we're somehow stupid or inferior to you in our online security or internet shopping skills.