66° North warns of internet fraud
66° North warns of fraudulent websites and advertisements on Facebook that have been online for over a week. In those fake ads a huge discount is offered due to stores closing down, but the ads are a scam that customers need to make sure they don't fall for. Composite image
Sigurbjörn Ari Sigurbjörnsson, the head of digital marketing at 66° North Iceland, says it is very important that people are aware of online fraud and are suspicious of all offers that sound too good to be true.
In recent days, advertisements have been on display in the name of 66° North on Facebook in the attempt to sell 66° North products at discounted prices, but products never reach the buyer.
If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is
"Over the last 10-12 days, these advertisements have been on display on Facebook. This starts with English where a fire sale of our products is being advertised. Then there is a picture of a shop opening and wares where it says that the shops are going to be closed.
Then people are led to a website where online shopping has been set up in a fairly ambitious way, but this is not our website. But those who don’t know better would perhaps think of a good deal and think they can buy good products at a good price,” Sigurbjörnsson says.
He says it is very important that people are critical of the advertising they see. "General advice to people who see such outstanding offers is to be a little suspicious and critical of an offer that looks like it is too good to be true. In such cases, there is often a set of time pressures and then 90% discounts are given and made to look like it may be 100 people looking at the product at the same time as you are."
Unfortunate timing because 66° North is starting a sale today
Sigurbjörnsson says that the timing of the internet fraud is very unfortunate because today the company is having a sale, and therefore more important that people make sure they are not falling for scams.
“It’s unfortunate that this is going on at this time,” Sigurbjörnsson says. “Our sale starts today and we are trying to emphasize in our marketing that people stay clear of fake advertisements and inauthentic suspicious urls, like 66sale.online.”
