The next three months will surely see a boom in the online shopping space, so scammers are taking advantage
Online scammers are reportedly targeting US shoppers on TikTok in an elaborate fake luxury products scheme in which the seller claims to have obtained “factory direct” designer clothes.
Recently, many users on TikTok have encountered convincing ads promoting discounted items from high-end brands, like Lululemon leggings and a Hermès Birkin lookalike. The voiceover purports that the cheap clothes were pulled straight out of the factory, meaning they possess the same quality materials from the same suppliers—a deal too good to be true.
Some grifters even claimed to have exposed the suppliers of well-known luxury brands, proving it with videos of what appears to be Chinese sweatshops.
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The seemingly sophisticated scam comes amid financial uncertainty as the trade war between China and the US cooled down on May 12, albeit temporarily. Shoppers are poised to flood online stores after the US lowered tariffs on imported goods from China to 30% from 145% for 90 days. In turn, Beijing slashed levies on imported goods from the US to 10% from 125%.
The next three months will surely see a boom in the online shopping space, so scammers are taking advantage.
“As tariffs continue to be put onto items, the prices of luxury items, especially name brands, are going to make these items unaffordable to potential customers,” Vidyuth Srinivasan, CEO of luxury authentication platform Entrupy, told Retail Brew. “People are naturally going to start looking for cheaper alternatives… That’s where counterfeiters step in.”
The online sleazeballs can be very convincing. The knockoff items are sent in seemingly legitimate packaging from many luxury retailers like Louis Vuitton and Lululemon, giving the impression that they originated from accredited manufacturers. The financial uncertainty has been pushing social media users to buy the supposed “leftover” goods at wholesale prices.
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The fake goods are reportedly well-made and have fooled Americans into divulging their debit card numbers to sales funnels on TikTok, Reddit, WhatsApp, and live stream platforms.
“The journey starts [on Reddit], then moves to messaging apps,” said Brian Ehrig, partner at consulting firm Kearney. “From there, they are having one-on-one conversations with factory representatives… It’s quite a personalized experience.” Experts like Ehrig have seen dozens of counterfeit schemes, but technology has gradually increased its speed, reach, and effectiveness.
“For luxury brands, it chips away at exclusivity and weakens the brand’s perceived value,” Srinivasan explained. “For resale platforms, it’s even harder — authenticity is their entire business model, and just a few fakes slipping through can damage trust.”
The latest OECD/EUIPO report, Mapping Global Trade in Fakes 2025, reports that fake luxury goods made up about $467 billion in global trade in 2021. The largest portion of that figure was reportedly made up of clothing, footwear, and leather goods, which together made up 62% of all confiscated fake items.
