A SINGLE mum has warned how “elaborate” scammers swindled hundreds of pounds from her.
Parker Newlan was deceived by fraudsters pretending to be from fast fashion giant Boohoo, promising her free clothes in exchange for social media posts every month.
The 22-year-old says she “never” thought she would fall for a scam but everything seemed “so genuine”.
Back in December, she received an email from who she believed was a member of Boohoo’s PR team offering the long-term collaboration deal.
Under the deal, Parker would be sent a package of clothes every month and be paid to promote them on social media.
The criminals even sent her an “authentic-looking” contract to sign.
However, the contract held an iffy condition – the Gold Coast-based mum had to pay a £65 (AUD$125) one-time fee to cover the first round of shipping.
And while Parker now wishes she had a lawyer look over the contract, at the time she didn’t notice “anything was fishy or not quite right”.
What’s more, fraudsters also sent fake postage details for a legitimate shipping company, further making the scam seem believable.
“I was so excited, this was my first big collaboration with a brand that I love,” Parker shared.
“It was paid and I was absolutely stoked.
“I’m also a single mum, so the idea of being able to chase my passion and do what I love while earning money to support me and my son was huge for me.
“The email appeared so genuine with the clear Boohoo logo and wording that I truly didn’t suspect anything.”
However, after paying the initial fee and receiving a tracking number, Parker received another email weeks later demanding more money.
Scammers still posing as Boohoo’s PR team said they needed a £99 (AUD$190) “clearance fee” to get the items to her.
Parker willingly paid this as she knew that ordering clothes down under from the UK brand often came with a customs fee.
How to protect yourself from scams
BY keeping these tips in mind, you can avoid getting caught up in a scam:
- Firstly, remember that if something seems too good to be true, it normally is.
- Check brands are “verified” on Facebook and Twitter pages – this means the company will have a blue tick on its profile.
- Look for grammatical and spelling errors; fraudsters are notoriously bad at writing proper English. If you receive a message from a “friend” informing you of a freebie, consider whether it’s written in your friend’s normal style.
- If you’re invited to click on a URL, hover over the link to see the address it will take you to – does it look genuine?
- To be on the really safe side, don’t click on unsolicited links in messages, even if they appear to come from a trusted contact.
- Be careful when opening email attachments too. Fraudsters are increasingly attaching files, usually PDFs or spreadsheets, which contain dangerous malware.
- If you receive a suspicious message then report it to the company, block the sender and delete it.
- If you think you’ve fallen for a scam, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use its online fraud reporting tool.
And then another few weeks later, she received another email saying the items had been “cleared” but she still needed to pay another fee for the items to be processed before shipping.
Parker says she questioned the additional fee multiple times, but kept receiving a “generic email” reiterating that she needed to pay the “processing fee”.
“I know I should have gotten to a point where I should have refused to pay any more money and really questioned it harder,” she said.
“But because I had signed a contract and because I am a bit naive, I was really scared that if I didn’t pay these fees, I would be violating a contract that I had signed.”
I questioned my own intelligence for weeks following finding out it was a scam
Parker Newlan, scam victim
It didn’t stop there, though.
Another few weeks later, fraudsters demanded a further £104 (AUD$200) as there was a delay in paying her last fee.
They claimed the money would move the items out of a “permanent hold” at the custom warehouse.
Parker recalls feeling “so frustrated that she just wanted these items” and coughed up the cash.
As a single mum, it’s devastating to think about how much I put into it and have now lost
Parker Newlan, scam victim
The fraudsters posing as Boohoo promised it was the last payment she would need to make – and then she didn’t hear anything from the shipping company for a month.
When she checked the tracking details the scammers had supplied, she clocked that they had expired.
This is when “alarm bells really started going off” for her.
She then received another email claiming she needed to pay more money, so reached out to Boohoo’s customer support team who quickly launched an investigation.
THE PENNY DROP
Two days later, Boohoo told Parker it was likely the e-mails and transactions were fraudulent.
The fashion giant had no evidence of a collaboration agreement on its end, and the emails she received were not sent from Boohoo’s marketing team.
Parker recalled how her “heart dropped” realising she had been scammed out of £432 (AUD$830).
“I was devastated, angry and also incredibly embarrassed,” she told news.com.au.
“As a single mum, it’s devastating to think about how much I put into it and have now lost.
“I questioned my own intelligence for weeks following finding out it was a scam and felt so angry at myself for not picking up on the red flags sooner and trusting my intuition.
“I am still incredibly angry that there are people out there who thrive off taking advantage of young people, old people and single parents.”
I questioned my own intelligence for weeks following finding out it was a scam
Parker Newlan
The single mum has now urged others – particularly fellow micro-influencers – to be wary when a company reaches out to you.
“This is proof that it can happen to anyone,” she said.
“It can happen to individuals like me that are active on social media and digitally aware.
“Scammers are getting more and more calculated and elaborate as time goes on.
“Scammers will build entire websites, tracking numbers, links etc. and go the full lengths to make the scam appear as legitimate as possible.”
Parker has since launched a dispute with her bank over the fraudulent transactions to try and claw her money back and is also planning on filing a police report.
Boohoo was approached for comment by Fabulous.