LOS ANGELES — Owners of The Stockroom note an imposter has been barraging social media with fake accounts using the Stockroom name to lure customers into placing orders.
“The one thing that all the accounts have in common so far is that they link back to 'Stockroom-dot-store,'” said Christine Gillette, Stockroom’s marketing coordinator. “It’s a cheap knockoff of our site at Stockroom.com, and if you give them money, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get your product. These people are completely unknown to us.”
According to the company, the false accounts have been showing up primarily on Instagram as both brand accounts and individuals claiming to work for Stockroom as assistant retail managers and other positions.
Fake Instagram accounts that have been reported include @thestockroomofficial, @stockroom_stores and @stockroomstores.
“If people want to follow The Stockroom on Instagram, we regularly update our official accounts @officialstockroom, @syrenlatex, @malestockroom and @stockroomretail,” Gillette said. A full list of The Stockroom’s official social media is available here.
The Stockroom says it is taking legal action to have the fraudulent website taken offline, but in the meantime, the spammers have continued to target social media users with visible BDSM content.
“Our customers have been great,” Gillette says. “We’ve found a lot of these fake profiles because people who know our brand have contacted us saying, ‘Hey, this profile messaged me saying they work with you.’”
According to Gillette, consumers should continue to be cautious as fake social media accounts are an industry-wide problem that is increasing to epidemic levels.
“This is destructive to our customers and our brand alike,” Gillette said. “The success of scams like this depends a lot on the stigma attached to kinky sexualities. People often have to research authenticity in private, without the support of their friends and family. That’s another reason we’re proud that so many of our customers have recognized the fraud for what it is and spoken up about it.”
To report suspect accounts, message the Stockroom via its official Instagram and Twitter accounts, or email info@stockroom.com.
