Sad cobblers and other social scams on the rise: ACCC

Consumer watchdog the ACCC has confirmed an increase in foreign retailers pretending to be Australian in social media advertising. The regulator’s warning comes amid a rash of AI-generated ads for fake closing down sales on fake Australian businesses online: the so-called “Sad cobbler”.

The ads, as reported in Unmade and The Guardian, typically invent back-stories for businesses that are supposedly selling inventory cheap as part of their closing down.

Unmade drew attention to ads which include a fictional cobbler, clothing store, and puzzle maker. In Mumbrella’s case, Facebook served us an ad for a Melbourne clothing store that has a convincing local website, but no history to speak of. The ad began “It is with tears in our eyes that we must share this with you.”

Sad news: Yet another business goes under (Facebook)