Australian consumers are being duped by an increasing number of ‘ghost stores’, where overseas companies pass themselves off as local operations.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is warning the public about four websites, specifically, but believe the practice is widespread.
ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said the four websites, everly-melbourne.com, willowandgrace-adelaide.com, sophie-claire.com and doublebayboutique.com, were accused of making false representations about being local Australian businesses, imminently closing down and selling high-quality clothing and footwear products.
Ms Lowe said the ACCC believe the sites are actually based overseas, not imminently closing down, and were drop-shipping low-quality products.
“We are warning Australians about the risks of engaging with these four websites specifically, which we allege are not based in Melbourne, Adelaide or Double Bay, nor are they imminently closing down,” she said.
“We further allege that the operators of these websites are supplying products which are not of the advertised quality.”
Ms Lowe said the ACCC’s Public Warning Notices followed an increased number of consumer reports to the ACCC in recent months about online ghost stores.
She said since the start of 2025, the ACCC estimated it had received at least 360 reports about 60 online retailers, though media reports suggested many more may be in operation.
“The ACCC is concerned that, beyond these four websites, this type of conduct appears to be widespread, and that there are many other online ghost stores in operation that may also be falsely claiming to be local boutiques and supplying poor quality products.”
Ms Lowe said ghost stores have been known to target consumers through social media ads and also tended to close and rebrand under new names, often using different Australian suburbs, towns or cities in their names to appear ‘local’.
“We urge all Australians to think twice before clicking on ads they see on social media which claim to be from a boutique business based in a local town or city,” she said.
Signs that an online business could be a ghost store:
- The store may have an Australian place in its name or domain, but the website domain is “.com” and not “.com.au”.
- The website for the store often features a fake backstory relating to the owners and claims that, for financial or other reasons, the store is closing down. Advertisements on social media platforms, including Facebook or Instagram, will often claim that the closing down sale “ends tonight”.
- Use of AI generated images of the owners or team. This can sometimes be indicated in the URL.
