ACCC's warning about 'ghost stores' luring customers online

Australians have been warned about shopping at alleged “ghost stores”, websites which masquerade as local businesses.

The ACCC alleges four ghost store operators are harming consumers by presenting themselves as local Australian businesses which are facing imminent closing and claiming to sell high-quality clothing and footwear products.

Instead, the consumer watchdog claims, the stores are based overseas, not closing down anytime soon, and are drop-shipping low-quality products.

The stores in question are everly-melbourne.com, willowandgrade-adelaide.com, sophie-claire.com, and doublebayboutique.com.

9news.com.au has contacted each of the outlets regarding the allegations.

“We are warning Australians about the risks of engaging with these four websites specifically, which we allege are not based in Melbourne, Adelaide or Double Bay, nor are they imminently closing down,” ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said.

“We further allege that the operators of these websites are supplying products which are not of the advertised quality.”

The ACCC’s warning follows an increased number of consumer reports to the watchdog in recent months about online ghost stores.

Since the start of 2025, the ACCC estimated it had received at least 360 reports about 60 online retailers, though media reports suggested many more may be in operation.

There have also been complaints about alleged ghost stores refusing to provide refunds or not responding to complaints.

Ghost stores have been known to target consumers through social media ads and also tend to close and rebrand under new names, often using different Australian suburbs, towns or cities in their names to appear “local”.

“We urge all Australians to think twice before clicking on ads they see on social media which claim to be from a boutique business based in a local town or city,” Lowe said.

“Often ghost stores will share an emotional story on their social media or website that they are a small, locally operated business, needing to close for financial reasons.

“They will claim they are having a ‘closing down sale’ as a result, with all stock heavily discounted and available on a very limited basis.”

Ghost stores sometimes use a name that is similar to that of a genuine local boutique, leading to competitive and reputational harm for those businesses.

The ACCC said ghost stores used targeted paid advertisements on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram, and often appeared to use the Shopify e-commerce platform to host and operate their webstores.

“We have written to both Meta Platforms (as the owner of Facebook and Instagram) and Shopify to request they scrutinise and take appropriate action against the operators of ghost stores,” Lowe said.

“We want to increase public awareness of these dishonest businesses so that Australians know how to spot them and can avoid being deceived into buying an inferior product.”