The Guardian

Australian consumer watchdog issues public warning about ‘ghost stores’ and urges Meta and Shopify to crack down


ACCC says asking e-commerce platforms to act is more effective than traditional enforcement, given operators are mostly overseas and difficult to identify

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Australia’s consumer regulator has put Shopify and Meta on notice, urging the e-commerce and social media platforms to take action against online “ghost stores” pretending to be local businesses in order to dupe shoppers.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Thursday issued a public warning about ghost stores and announced it had written to Shopify and Meta after an investigation by Guardian Australia identified more than 140 of these sites.

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Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jul/03/australia-ghost-stores-accc-warning-e-commerce-meta-shopify-ntwnfb

Author : Catie McLeod Consumer affairs reporter

Publish date : 2025-07-03 07:44:00

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Tags : The Guardian