The criminals did not take long to smell the right vein. In recent weeks, a new fashion has taken bags of thousands of people. These are the Labubu, these little monstrous dolls to collect from the Chinese brand Pop Mart.
And Internet users start it. As evidence, the company now weighs 36 billion euros in the stock market, compared to 2,600 million in early 2024. A success like Pop Mart had to temporarily withdraw its figures from the South Korean and British markets after many overflows and chaos scenes in the store.
Prices (also) attractive
Therefore, online resale sites are taken by storm. The figures, originally sold between $ 20 and 30, see their price fly. Therefore, some rare dolls are sold for more than $ 3,000.
The problem is that this success has not escaped the scammers. As Malwaretips has seen, some cybercriminals try to catch fans creating places to sell false Labubu.
Specifically, criminals are presented as official resellers. The names of the sites, such as Popmlabubu.shop or Plushpoph.store, are deliberately deceitful. The latter provide “official” sales dolls at challenge prices for all competition. Count between 20 and 80 dollars the wrist.
As expected, these false Pop sites mart multiply the false promotions in “-95%” or banners of “limited actions” and a false countdown to encourage consumers to go to the cashier. Delivery is free and several false reviews have been added to deceive the surveillance of Internet users.
However, these are just cheap fakes. In fact, despite the mentions of “Official Receiver” or “Pop Mart”, these stores are not affiliated with Pop Mart.
Know how to detect scams
In the best case, customers receive a poor quality falsification, in the worst case, the package is empty or simply is not sent. But in both cases, customers enter their banking data in a fraudulent site. With risk, therefore, that this information will be used badly.
And some falsifications are “potentially dangerous” for children, according to Irish customs. As the BBC reports, these false dolls contained spare parts that could present a risk of suffocation.
Several clues can help Internet users locate fraudulent sites. Abnormally low prices, the absence of legal notices and the abundance of promotional ads can put the chip in the ear. The presence of poorly and repetitive opinions is also a good indicator.
In case of doubt, it is possible to verify the reliability of the site in Francrverif or Scamdoc. These free tools allow you to obtain a trusted score with respect to the site consulted. Simply enter the site url from the search bar and click on the magnifying glass.
Finally, real Labu dolls have a QR code in the package to authenticate the purchase. And, since 2024, a Pop mar seal has been present on the right foot of the figure.
Source: BFM TV
