A fake promotional campaign, allegedly from suitcase manufacturer Samsonite, is currently doing the rounds on social media. People are led to believe that they can buy a suitcase for just 1.99 euro. However, they never receive the suitcase and their bank account is plundered by cyber criminals. The European Consumer Centre warns the public to be on their guard and advises to "Do our webshop check in order expose rogue traders”
Click her for the English version of the webshop check page.
A seemingly credible promotional campaign is currently doing the rounds on social media. A Samsonite suitcase is offered for less than 2 euros. However, the promotion is fake and those that take up the offer of a cheap suitcase are not only left without the goods they ordered, but in some cases also see their bank account plundered by online scammers.
Despite prior warnings given on VRT Radio 2’s consumer affairs programme ‘De Inspecteur’ and elsewhere, Lutgarde from Sint-Genesius-Rode (Flemish Brabant) decided to take up the offer of a cheap suitcase. She no wonders how she could have been so gullible. “I blocked my credit card straight away”, she told VRT News.
The same thing happened to Hilde from Asse (Flemish Brabant). “48 euro was debited from my Visa card straight away and I never got to see the suitcase.”
Samsonite, the suitcase manufacturer whose name is being misused by the scammers, has received a flood of complaints. In a statement the company told VRT News that "We are receiving complaints every day. Especially now in the run-up to the summer holidays. Fake promotional offers are a real issue internationally. We can make every effort to get fake web shops taken down, but the scammers don't make it easy for us."
“Yes! I’ve won a suitcase”
Leen Desmedt of the European Consumer Centre (ECC) investigated the false promotional offer. She told VRT News that “Soon I came across a website where I could play a kind of lottery game. Here I also won a suitcase. Yes!"
Naturally Leen Desmedt did not proceed with the purchase and did not enter any bank account details or other data.
“The small print looked suspect. It mentioned a membership a subscription that people would accept without realising it. There were also all sorts of other things that were not legal.”
Do the webshop check
This is just one of numerous scams that have come to the attention of the ECC is aware: “We receive similar reports of fake promotional offers for smartphones costing 1 euro, cheap De'Longhi coffee machines, dirt cheap streaming services for sports matches…” The rule is if it is too good to be true to be, you need to be on your guard.
“Do our web shop check to expose rogue traders,” Leen Desmedt advises. “Check if you can find the seller’s details (email, address, telephone number…) and write to them if there is any dispute regarding your purchase. However, often they are scammers, so of course you will not find their details.”
What can you do if you fall for a fake promotional offer?
1. Check for your bank account for suspicious transactions.
2. If you have used a credit card for the suspect transaction, block it straight away. You can dispute a credit card transaction via mycard.be. If money is taken from your credit card without your approval you can reclaim it provided that the unauthorised transaction took place no more than 3 months ago.
3. If you notice that a direct debit has been set up that you did not authorise you should contact your bank. Here funds can be reclaimed for up to 13 months after the unauthorised direct debit has taken place."
4. If you paid via a one-off transfer from your debit card, "MITs" are sometimes created. MIT stands for "merchant-initiated transaction". Before you realise it, you have given the beneficiary permission to deduct sums regularly from your account. This doesn't even require two-step verification. A loophole means that this is not (yet) illegal. Contact your bank immediately if you fall victim to this practice