Crackdown on ghost e-shops
Authorities have shut down over 50 fake online stores defrauding users in past 10 months
There is no end to some online stores’ efforts to defraud consumers, luring them with branded products at very low prices and accumulating large orders without ever fulfilling them.
Sources say since September 2023, more than 50 “ghost” electronic shops have been disabled, following actions by the Development Ministry‘s General Secretariat of Trade and Consumer Protection.
These e-stores are frauds that do not have legal status, i.e. they do not have a VAT number or a tax office and in many cases, through online advertisements, they abuse the brand name of well-known chains, promoting branded products at particularly low prices. The purpose of the scam is to extort money from unsuspecting consumers, but also sensitive personal data.
Ghost e-shops, or even some e-shops that correspond to actual persons, operate for a certain period of time without problems, gain the trust of the public and then stop fulfilling orders, becoming the most common vehicles of online consumer deception. According to information, authorities are currently probing complaints about yet another problematic online store.
Shortly before end-June, the General Directorate of Market and Consumer Protection of the General Secretariat of Commerce imposed a fine of 120,000 euros on the company JMC SA, which maintained the online store www.jmctech.gr. For a long time, the digital store neither delivered product orders at the agreed time nor informed consumers about the final order fulfillment time after the deadline. By extension, it did not refund the money paid by consumers for the purchase of the goods after termination of the contract and cancellation of the order, while at the same time, it was misleading about the immediate availability and delivery of the goods.
It is a common practice to create new online stores to replace the ones shut down. At least, when they belong to the same company, the work of the authorities is easier, as it takes about two days to stop their operation.
