Many of us have been there. You spot the perfect item online, drop it in your cart, and pay. The days turn into weeks, as you patiently wait for the courier updates, and eventual arrival. Aaaah, the unboxing…
The disappointment hits you like a ton of bricks. What in the miniature fake fluff is this? Certainly not what you ordered. You vow to never shop online again. But of course, you’re back at it next week. Hoping that this time, your expectation matches reality.
Luckily for you, there’s a woman making it her business to uncover online shopping scams. Maggie McGaugh purposely buys fake products. Mutton dressed as lamb items, where sellers have used artificial intelligence to generate gorgeous ads that entice people into buying what they really don’t need. The influencer has posted some of her dud buys online. And boy, are they hilarious. Bored Panda has put together some of the best, in the hopes that you won’t be the next sucker that falls for another AI online shopping scam.
“My goal is to spread awareness about AI generated product photos, get the sellers removed from the sites, and repurpose the items to reduce waste”
“I ordered an AI-generated shark toilet paper roll. Instead they sent a gemstone-by-the-numbers kit. Because who wouldn’t want a DIY gemstone canvas of a shark toilet paper roll”
“You may have seen this AI generated photo of a coffee mug shaped like a stack of books. I took one for the team to investigate it myself, and here’s what you would actually get if you order it.”
“You know the beautiful stained glass dog lamps? Yeah, don’t fall for it”
“No way to hide the plug, the cotton can’t stick out far off the wall, and they only included enough tape for half the lights. Maybe if I had 2-4 more packs I could make it look closer to the picture! Not to mention I had to build this thing myself “
“Pretty sure I HAVE to turn this into a planter now, right?”
“The giant banana duck!”
“They didn’t even TRY to make it look similar”
“3-D dinosaur”
“I ordered this “watermelon grass” (not a real thing) and here’s what they really sent me”
“This one was similar, but the size was definitely inaccurate”
“Size does matter, folks”
“I paid $50 for this gummy bear chair,”
“My dating app experiences”: people had lots to say, and many comments were hilarious
Not everyone was amused, some were actually very angry
Some netizens had their own similar experiences to share
