Scammers use AI to fake British boutiques
Victims say they were misled into buying poor-quality goods shipped from Asia.
Fraudsters are using AI-generated images and back stories to pose as British family businesses, luring shoppers into buying cheap goods from Asia. Websites claiming to be long-standing local boutiques have been linked to warehouses in China and Hong Kong.
Among them is C’est La Vie, which presented itself as a Birmingham jeweller run by a couple called Eileen and Patrick. The supposed owners appeared in highly convincing AI-generated photos, while customers later discovered their purchases were shipped from China.
Victims described feeling cheated after receiving poor-quality jewellery and clothes that bore no resemblance to the advertised items. More than 500 complaints on Trustpilot accuse such companies of exploiting fabricated stories to appear authentic.
Consumer experts at Which? warn that AI tools now enable scammers to create fake brands at an unprecedented scale. The ASA has called on social media platforms to act, as many victims were targeted through Facebook ads.
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