Fraudsters use the name of “Topo Centro”: the low price of this “product” can lure you into big losses | Business

Recently, users of the social network Facebook can see advertisements tempting them to buy speakers from the US company Marshall for just three euros from the well-known shopping chain Topo Centras. However, this is a scam.

“Legendary Marshall speakers for just €3. WhyTo celebrate the brand’s 60th anniversary, we’ve reduced the price of 60 Marshall Stanmore III speakers. You can buy them here.Hurry up, there are not enough Marshall speakers for everyone”, – such a message can be seen by users of the social network Facebook.

Its authors are the Topo Centras Lithuania account.

Topo Center/Fake Marshall Ad

Such speakers in Lithuania cost 330-360 euros (the unreduced price is about 450 euros on the “discount” website), so the suspiciously low price alone can raise an eyebrow. The fact that the “Topo Centras Lithuania” account has only 1.2 thousand may raise suspicions for the more vigilant. followers, when the official account of “Topo Centro” is 132 thousand. followers.

In addition, the famous US company “Marshall” celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2022, so the specified “discount” occasion is not accurate.

Moreover, in just a few years 2023 Facebook account created in December is mostly liked not by Lithuanians, but by users from Asian countries. The reviews about the supposedly cheaply bought speakers are mistakenly translated into Lithuanian.

The link placed in the ad does not lead to the “Topo Centro” page, but to a separate website ecomwidellc.com a subpage where users are encouraged to answer a short survey, play a game and then get a chance to buy the desired electronic product.

Topo Center: Customers should be careful

However, this is how the user is lured into leaving their personal data and is enrolled in a “loyalty” program, the real purpose of which is not to help them save money, but to cheat them out of money.

In this particular case, the fraudsters, using Topo Centro’s name illegally, also falsely invite you to join the loyalty program for a fee.

This is a scam and an attempt to extort money – membership in the Topo club benefit program is free for everyone – we urge people to be extremely careful and not fall into these scammers’ traps, the company’s representatives point out.

How 15 minutes informed the CEO of Topo Centro, Remigijus Štaras, the company operating in Lithuania is in fact in no way related to the mentioned Facebook account.

“This is a case of fraud – we noticed it and contacted Meta yesterday. Cases where fraudsters impersonate brands after creating fake accounts also sometimes occur in our practice. Usually in such cases, imposters offer to purchase goods at inadequately low prices and this is the first signal that fraudsters are at work. When we notice such cases, we immediately inform the administrators of social networks about them”, commented the manager of Topo Centro.

However, social networks are not always able to detect all fake accounts and promptly block them, so the company urges its customers to protect themselves and shares recommendations, which is important to pay attention to if the account or the offers posted on it are in doubt:

• Fake accounts usually give away low follower count and engagement and low number of published posts right away.
• The texts of the posts are often grammatically incorrect or lack coherence.
• It is recommended to check the profile creation date – fake profiles will always have a very recent creation date.
• Be sure to check the specified contact information – websites, e-mails. postal addresses. Very often, the specified address of the company’s website is suspicious and has nothing to do with the company itself.

“Finally, we always remind our customers that on our official pages we never ask to provide personal data, register on websites that don’t meet the security options, or click on unclear links,” the manager of Topo Centro points out.