A new study carried out by two cyber security researchers has brought to light some Facebook ads that have been seen to promote fake goods. These listings mostly claim to offer luxury and designer products at extremely cheap rates, but merely end up selling you counterfeits.
So basically, if there’s a huge discount being offered on items like Ray Bay sunglasses, Louis Vuitton bags or Ralph Lauren polo shirts on Facebook, you’re probably being conned. The two researchers created 12 dummy accounts for the study and picked up a sample of 1067 ads on the social networking site.
They mainly focused on Facebook ads pertaining to fashion and luxury which amounted to 180 in total. Out of these, 43 listings took users to websites which were offering counterfeit goods. Mashable notes that the promotions can easily trick people as they seem legitimate.
Also read: New smartphone app can spot fake designer clothes
The websites being used to con buyers appear pretty professional too and have authentic-looking URLs as well as have fake logos of security and payment system companies. The researchers have also revealed that the majority of domains were registered in China, with the owners having email addresses from within the country as well.
A Facebook spokesperson revealed that the company already has a robust advertising review program through which campaigns are analyzed automatically and manually. On the upside, the social network seems to be taking care of the issue as most of the fake ads identified have now been removed.
The fraudulent Facebook ads study is titled ‘Online Advertising Techniques for Counterfeit Goods and Illicit Sales’ and it can be accessed on Scribd.