Scammers are always changing up their approach. This time around, consumers of the beauty industry need to be careful and not Belle-ieve everything they see.
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The fashion and beauty industry has always been notoriously cut-throat and competitive. It’s easy to observe all sorts of means and ways that people use to market beauty products and cosmetic treatments to gain a foothold in the market.
Previously, young sales ladies could be seen on the streets hailing pedestrians to introduce new products. These days, methods have changed as well.
Some shops have started marketing their products and services on dating apps.
Today’s tale is a cautionary reminder for everyone though that things can get ugly real quick whenever money is involved.
Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating 5 beauty shops for scamming consumers into unknowingly signing promissory notes under the guise of long-term installment contracts for cosmetic services or for refusing to refund products even if the packaging was just opened to examine the product for defects. The FTC said that they have more than 100 cases that they are working on at the moment.
A tale as old as time, scammers are known to sit pretty, confident of their schemes. It’s best to remember that it is always a buyer-beware market so that one’s pursuit of beauty won’t turn out so beastly after all.