Federal Trade Commission: 25 Websites Sold Fake Clorox, Lysol Products But Never Delivered Them
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Still on the hunt for Lysol wipes? Beware of buying them online, where the Federal Trade Commission says at least 25 websites have been selling the products without actually delivering them.
The FTC says that the operators of 25 counterfeit website "have been playing on consumers' COVID-19 pandemic fears to trick the into paying for Clorox and Lysol products that the defendants never deliver." The sites have been up since at least July 2020.
None of the websites are owned by, affiliated with, or authorized by the companies that make Clorox and Lysol, according to the FTC. Consumers reported that when they tried to go back to the fake website to seek a refund for the never-delivered products, the site was gone in a matter of days or weeks, and the FTC says the sites would pop up again with a different URL.
In other cases where consumers tried to stop payments or get chargebacks through their credit card companies, the sites used falsified shipment information to make it harder to get the charges reversed, according to the FTC. In still other instances, the sites shipped products that the consumers did not order – like socks – to thwart the chargeback process.
A temporary restraining order has been issued against the sites. A complete list of URLs can be found on the FTC website.
