A single mom and micro-influencer has issued an urgent warning about just how “elaborate” scammers have become after she was swindled out of hundreds of dollars from a fake clothing collaboration.
Australian fashion student Parker Jane said she “never” thought she would fall for a scam, but the 22-year-old revealed on TikTok she had been scammed out of over $526 after she was tricked into thinking she had secured a collaboration deal with UK-based online fashion retailer, Boohoo.
“I feel so drained about this whole situation but I want to share it, not for sympathy, but to spread awareness so that it doesn’t happen to anyone else,” she said in a recent TikTok video, which has amassed over 70,000 views.
“Scammers really do thrive and prey on your weaknesses and your vulnerabilities.”
In the video, the mom said she received an email from who she believed was Boohoo’s PR team in late December offering her a collaboration deal.
Under the deal, Ms. Jane would be sent a number of clothing items per month and be paid for each social media post she shared about the items.
“I was so excited, this was my first big collaboration with a brand that I love. It was paid and I was absolutely stoked,” she said.
“(I’m) also a single mom 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.”
Speaking to news.com.au, Ms. Jane said the scammers went to extreme lengths to convince her she had received a legitimate brand offer.
“The email appeared so genuine with the clear Boohoo logo and wording … that I truly didn’t suspect anything.”
The scammers also sent Ms. Jane an “authentic-looking” contract to sign.
While Ms. Jane now admits she should have had a lawyer check over the contract, she stressed there weren’t any alarm bells that “anything was fishy or not quite right at the start”.
The contact simply included one condition – Ms. Jane had to pay a $125 one-time fee to cover the first round of shipping.
It was a cost she said she was “happy” to pay.
“I felt like this is an investment, I’m going to see this money come back. And also this is a brand I love,” she explained in the video.
She also felt the deal was legitimate as she had received communication from the PR team – falsely claiming to be Boohoo – as well as a separate shipping company.
However, after paying the fee and receiving a tracking number, Ms. Jane received another email weeks later informing her she needed to pay more money.
This time the scammers claimed they required a $125 “clearance fee” for the items.
“I know you often have to pay fees for customs so this wasn’t bizarre to me (so) I paid it,” she said in the video.
After a few more weeks of silence, she received another email from the shipping company informing her the items had been cleared.
But she was told they required another payment for the items to be processed before being shipped.
Ms. Jane said she questioned the additional fee and sent the company a number of emails.
But she kept receiving the same “generic email” in response, reiterating 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 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 contact that I had signed,” she explained.
Ms. Jane paid the fee, having been reassured all the shipping costs would eventually be refunded after she received the items.
However, after a few more weeks of being “ghosted”, she finally received an email from the scammers requesting that she pay over $131 after there was a delay in paying her last fee.
The money, they claimed, would be required to move the items out of a “permanent hold” at the customs warehouse.
“At this point, I’m so frustrated, I’ve had enough, I just wanted these items to me.”
After questioning the scammers a number of times, Ms Jane was eventually convinced to pay the fee.
The company confirmed it was the final payment required and the items would be successfully delivered.
But after making the payment, Ms. Jane didn’t hear anything from the shipping company for close to a month.
When she checked the tracking details they had supplied, she found both the tracking number and shipping link had expired.
“My alarm bells really start(ed) going off at this point.”
She then received another email claiming she needed to pay more money.
But by this point, Ms. Jane was “done”.
The 22-year-old reached out to Boohoo’s customer support team, who quickly responded informing her they were launching an investigation.
Two days later, they delivered the unfortunate news that they believe the emails and transactions were fraudulent.
They also confirmed there was no evidence of a collaboration agreement on their end, and the emails Ms. Jane received were not sent from their official marketing team email.
Ms. Jane said her “heart dropped” realizing she had been scammed out of $546.
“I was devastated, angry and also incredibly embarrassed,” she told news.com.au.
“As a single mom, it’s devastating to think about how much I put into it and have now lost.”
Looking back, she said she wished she would have trusted her gut when she felt something wasn’t right.
“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.”
Ms. Jane has launched a dispute with her bank over the fraudulent transactions but the matter is still being investigated.
She is also planning on filing a police report.
However, she has come to terms she may never receive the money back.
Ms. Jane urged others to trust your gut and to reach out to companies if you think you may be getting scammed.
“This is proof that it can happen to anyone, 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 so after this experience … Scammers will build entire websites, tracking numbers, links etc. and go the full lengths to make the scam appear as legitimate as possible.”
“I truly believe you can never be too careful.”
Boohoo, who are in no way involved in the scam, declined to comment when contacted by news.com.au.
Anyone with concerns are encouraged to contact their customer services team directly.
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