In a new warning that’ll make you think twice before clicking on that Instagram ad about a local fashion boutique with a fire closing-down sale, Australia’s consumer watchdog has cautioned against alleged “ghost stores” that are scamming shoppers with misleading ads and dodgy products.
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), these ghost stores target consumers through social media ads, and often rebrand under new names using different Aussies cities or suburbs in their name to appear ‘local’.
On Thursday, it issued public warning notices against four stores, which it alleges have been making false representations about being based in Australia, selling high-quality fashion and footwear, but are having to close down soon. Instead, according to the ACCC, these stores are actually based overseas, drop-shipping low-quality products.
The stores named by the ACCC are doublebayboutique.com, willowandgrace-adelaide.com, sophie-claire.com, and everly-melbourne.com.
“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,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said in a statement.
“We further allege that the operators of these websites are supplying products which are not of the advertised quality.”
Since the start of 2025, the ACCC has received over 360 complaints about 60 retailers that operate as ghost stores. But, it’s concerned this type of conduct “appears to be widespread”.
Not only are these stores allegedly selling dodgy products, but it’s been claimed they’re refusing to provide refunds, or only offer partial refunds, when consumers complain about the poor quality of the goods — or, in some cases, they don’t respond to complaints at all.
“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,” Lowe said.
Peep the “nestled in the heart of Melbourne”. (Source: Everly website)
Often, ghost stores share an emotional story on social media about being a small local business needing to close for financial reasons, claiming they’re selling off heavily discounted stock as a result.
“This conduct preys on the empathy of consumers who have a genuine desire to support local businesses, as well as creating a false sense of urgency,” she added.
Plus, in some cases, they may even use a name really similar to a genuine local boutique, which can confuse customers and often lead to competitive and reputation harm for those businesses.
The ACCC said it has written to Meta — which owns Facebook and Instagram — regarding the targeted paid ads used by these ghost stores. It’s also contacted Shopify about hosting and operating these online stores.
“We have written to both Meta Platforms (as the owner of Facebook and Instagram) and Shopify to request they scrutinise and take appropriate action against the operators of ghost stores,” Lowe said.
So how can you identify a ghost store?
The next time you’re doomscrolling through Instagram and see one of these ads come up, there’s a couple of things you can do to figure out if it’s legit.
For one, while the store may have an Aussie location in its name, check if the website domain is ‘.com’ and not ‘.com.au’. Also, check out if the pics look AI-generated, and if there’s any contact details, physical address for the store, or anything beyond an online web form.
The returns policy could also be a good indicator, if it suggests items will need to be returned to a warehouse or general location overseas which is different from where the items are allegedly shipped from (think: a store that claims to be based in Melbourne but requires returns to be sent to a warehouse in Asia).
Other signs it could be a ghost store, according to the ACCC, are whether the website provides an Australian Business Number (ABN) or Australian Company Number (ACN), if it’s got pretty terrible reviews on platforms like Trustpilot but beaming reviews on its actual site, and if its Privacy Policy or Terms of Services refer to international regulations, not Aussie laws.
You can also hit up the Australian Business Register lookup to check if the store’s genuine. Or, if you’d like to take things one step further and channel your inner Nancy Drew, there’s always the reverse image search or Google Lens to see if the product photos pop up anywhere else.
What if you’ve bought something from one of these stores?
Already placed your order and wondering what to do now? You can first contact your bank or payment provider to see if you can stop the transaction or reverse the charge.
If you found the websites through social media ads, you can make a complaint on the platform, including screenshots of the ad or the store’s page. There’s also the option of reporting the website to Google to have it de-listed.
Another step you can take is submitting a report to the ACCC or reporting the website to ScamWatch.
PEDESTRIAN.TV has contacted the four stores, as well as Meta and Shopify, for comment.
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