Online ‘ghost stores’ capitalising on Christmas and Black Friday sales to lure shoppers, ACCC warns

Consumers advised to be sceptical about sales season discounts as AI makes it even harder to detect scams

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

So-called “ghost store” operators are taking advantage of Christmas and Black Friday to lure shoppers to their websites, as the consumer regulator warns Australians that artificial intelligence is making it even harder to identify deceptive retailers.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) considers ghost stores – which falsely market themselves as local brands – to be “scam adjacent”, as some send imitation products from overseas and others fail to deliver anything at all.