by #LizPublika
Picture this: You are a creative who has recently launched an online store. This was the latest step in an elaborate plan to build your business. In order to get to this point, you worked your butt off to align your talents with a viable business plan, while learning a handful of new skills to make your goals a reality. The effort required many hours of studying, practice, and patience. This, you thought, will be worth it. And it is, but nothing is without its challenges.
Last week, I found myself a victim of intellectual property theft.
A graphic I designed exclusively for The ARTpublika Shop appeared on a t-shirt worn by someone in a Facebook fandom group. But, it didn’t come from my store. When you find yourself in this position, before you can draw any conclusions, it’s best to take a deep breath and evaluate the situation; and so, after the initial shock and disappointment, the investigator side of my personality took over and I got to work.
The Facebook post, which had over 100 likes, began as follows: “My mom got me this lovely T-shirt.” The comments that followed ranged from rather unsettling observations about the person’s appearance to compliments of the t-shirt and praises of the mom. But it also contained inquiries about where the shirt was bought. The original poster provided a link to the website, and that’s how I realized that this was no ordinary person, nor was this an ordinary post.
When coming across a post linking to an item on Facebook, users of the platform need to be mindful about where those links lead. As such, it’s worth asking ourselves a few questions before proceeding to click: Are the links authentic? Are they leading to an actual product page of a company? And is the product being sold a violation of someone’s intellectual property rights? How, you may be asking at this point, could I possibly know the answer to these questions?
Most of the time, there are reliable and solid hints to the authenticity of the post. Think about it like this: When an online business creates a product, it sets up Search Engine Optimization for the product, so as to attract views. That means it relies on keywords, some of which normally reference the product itself (t-shirt, mug, poster, etc.). If it’s a product with a graphic of a particularly popular person or character, their name or title will likely be part of the SEO.
The FB post that featured my stolen graphic is a good example. The name of the scam company implied that it was a t-shirt site, but that was about it for concrete information. And even though it contained a preview image of the product featuring my intellectual property, the title was vague by design: “AS Limited Edition.” Plus there was no meta tag that identified what the product was for SEO optimization. Why would a seller omit such crucial information?
The reason for its absence is simple — it means creators have a harder time finding out if their work had been stolen since an internet search produces few, if any, results that lead to the site of the perpetrators. So how, then, do scammers get people to find their products? Well, think back to how the caption on the post that featured my stolen design was phrased; it suggested that the t-shirt was a gift, and the accompanying photo did the rest of the heavy lifting.
As soon as someone asked about where the shirt was obtained, the link to the scam site appeared. This is actually quite clever, as it allowed the scammer to bypass the “no advertising” rule many fandom-oriented FB groups often have. The comments, though, are a bit of a gray area. And that’s where the scammers thrive. But, let’s say that you weren’t equipped with this information before you clicked on the scam site, how do you evaluate the site’s authenticity?
When you first open a scam e-commerce site, some basic clues are hidden in the website’s layout as well as basic business and contact information. For example, if you open a site that has hundreds of products, look for a search tab or product filter system that allows you to query for something specific. If you have to scroll through the store’s entire inventory to find what you’re looking for, the site is likely a scam. It’s also why a direct link is provided on socials.
Next, check out the contact information on the suspected site. If the website provides a contact phone number, do a quick Google search to see if the same number appears on other similar looking sites. If it does, you can try to call it; most of the time, the phone number does not work or will have a message explaining how phone customer service is not available at this time. You will likely encounter the same issues with the listed email if you try to reach out.
Finally, if applicable, you can contact the company hosting the scam site to verify if the business is real. In my case, the hosting company was GearLaunch. I reached out to let them know that one of their stores was in breach of intellectual property rights laws. I was informed that GearLaunch provided hosting services only, but that the discovery went against the agreement they have with the hosted sites, and worked with me to ensure the product was taken down.
More importantly, they provided me with the actual contact information of the scam site’s operators, which I was then able to send to the proper authorities. The site went down in full less than 48 hours after I learned about the theft. And even though it’s unlikely that my discovery of the crime has shut the perpetrators down for good, I was able to cause them some aggravation and disrupt their activities, at least temporarily.
A scammer’s success is contingent on their ability to engage and involve the public. This is one of the main reasons online shoppers and media users need to be on the lookout for suspicious ads and dubious information by paying attention to specific red flags. The creators whose designs are stolen are not the only victims; Reddit groups dedicated to publicizing the horror stories of hoodwinked shoppers are a testament to their efficacy.
There you have it, Publika. I sincerely hope that my tale of woe helps you safely navigate the tricky world of scam e-commerce sites, protect your wallet, and guard the intellectual property of creatives.