[Consumerwide - Youngchul Woo Reporter/ Yohan Bok Reporter]A scam advertisement about "Tiffany jewelry discount sales up to 85%" is covering all over SNS including Facebook. Discount sales meet the needs of consumers due to their  rational prices. However, we shouldn't get caught in scam ads.

The problem lies in that Facebook and Instagram do not necessarily filter scam ads. Thus, the Korea Consumer Agency urged consumers to be careful in consumption.

Recently, there were scam ads on Facebook and instagram about sales of Tiffany rings and necklaces down to 85%. The ads say this; "Why not discover joy in Tiffany jewelry? All your moments will turn into special memories. An online super DC sale is offered at max 85%.” As soon as you click on the ads, it leads to a sales page where it sells Tiffany rings and necklaces at a less than 100 thousand won price. Concerning the real price of rings and necklaces of the Tiffany brand, which reaches between some thousand won to over a couple of million won, this can be attractive. While feeling suspicious, consumers begin to trust the homepage by seeing the overall designs of the shopping mall, which contain the Tiffany brand name, logo, and color.

One of the consumers, Ms.A, paid USD 202.6 at a shopping mall for bracelets and necklaces, which she got through an SNS ad about DC sales of Tiffany &Co. on the 10th.

After payment she felt strange about the fact the shopping mall was not asking about the Personal Customs Code while it was an international shopping mall. So she cancelled it. But they did not answer back at all. Moreover, her membership information suddenly disappeared, which did not let her check her payment information.

There had already been a total of 17 similar cases by the 17th of Aug, and 13 cases only on the 10th. In response to this, KCA urged consumers to be careful with international shopping concerning cases of victims along with SNS scams. The shopping mall address in the Tiffany case is "tiffjewelry,com" (already closed), "tiffjewellery.com", and "kasaibyrdmall.com". Additionally, there is no way to check information about the business besides email addresses, which even delays solving the issue. In the contract terms, it mentions that it is under the law of the state of California, but the business holder is located in Hong Kong based on the credit card payment information.

An associated person from KCA has encouraged consumers to claim the case of victims if it happened to them along with documents about payment and cancellation details through the International transaction consumer portal.

SNS facilitators have got to monitor scams prior to ads. Nevertheless, even on the day of 30th, KCA is alarming consumers regarding the case, the same ads are on Facebook shamelessly. Currently, consumers have got to be careful. In order to get away from being caught, consumers need to check whether it is the official brand sales site and they are trustworthy prior to purchase. It has a large potential of being scams if the price is way too low than the market sales price. SNS facilitators have a responsibility to examine thoroughly the businesses that are paying for ads. The lost cows won't get back even after the cowhouse is fixed. ("Losing the cow and fixing the barn." Korean proverbs)