Be careful about the sites you make your purchases on! Stockwan and Relaxoria, two attractive platforms, are singled out for having caused hundreds of victims who never received their order or were reimbursed.
In November 2023, Sandrine’s television breaks down. Taking advantage of the approach of Black Friday, the mother hopes to find a low-cost model and begins to scour the Internet. Quickly, a model costing only 249 euros caught her attention on a site she didn’t know: Stockwan. HAS At first glance, the site seems serious, with customer service, a number, an email… Sandrine decides to take out her bank card. “When paying, I check as usual if the little green padlock appears in the search bar, it does, the site requests authorization from my bank, everything seems normal”she explains to Capital. Another marketing argument: the delivery time is twenty-four to forty-eight hours. This is perfect, so the TV should be replaced quickly. But everything is not going to go as planned…
Stockwan scam: damages totaling 30,000 euros
The next day, a withdrawal is made from Sandrine’s bank account. However, a week later, still no TV. She therefore calls the number indicated on the site and comes across an answering machine, on which she leaves a message. No answer. She tries her luck by email and very quickly gets a response. It is explained to him that “the time of twenty-four to forty-eight hours actually corresponds to the processing time. Since the product comes from China, it takes six weeks before being delivered”. Do you feel the scam coming, too? Sandrine has no choice but to be patient. After six weeks, still nothing. By email, he is given new excuses, such as a delay in orders due to Christmas and Chinese New Year. After several months, Sandrine ends up canceling her order and requests a refund. Customer service will no longer give any sign of life.
The mother is far from being an isolated case. On the forum of 60 million consumersas well as on the website signal-scamsmany people are testifying about the scam they have suffered in recent months. “On February 27, I placed an order for the sofa for €250. By credit card. Amount taken from my account. Order never delivered”, “No more news after an order at the end of November 2023”can we read on the platform. A collective, called ADC France, also brings together no less than 300 victims of Stockwan, all scammed between November 2023 and March 2024, for a total loss of 30,000 euros. They all placed orders on the site for bedding, furniture or even jacuzzis and received the same emails as Sandrine to the exact wording. A collective complaint filing is currently underway.
Relaxsoria scam: hundreds of victims
But the scam doesn’t stop there. Another online sales site, Relaxsoria, scams its customers in the same way. It offers for sale mainly carpets, supposedly made by hand. 60 million consumers tells us the case of Lila, who bought a sofa for 384 euros in mid-January. “At first, they announced delivery within forty-eight hours, then a postponement to early March 2024, and finally to April 23,” she laments. “I kept my order, and I’m still waiting for it. Except that since March 26, I no longer get any response by email and can’t reach anyone by phone.” A collective complaint filing led by ADC France was also carried out there.
Looking closer, we notice several disturbing facts. First of all, the two companies behind these two sites, Bystock Paris for Stockwan and Textil de France for Relaxsoria, were deleted from the commercial register on the same day: March 7, 2024. Moreover, they used the same communication service. domiciliation. So many elements which suggest that the two sites are potentially linked. They are currently still online and continuing to accept orders, even though businesses are supposed to have closed. Worse, they are well referenced on Google, while the attractive prices they charge are perfect bait for families without many means. To muddy the waters even further, suspicious sites like arcade-critique.net and signal-critique.com, which present themselves as platforms for fighting scams, publish particularly positive reviews, which allows search engines to be deceived. and to reassure consumers looking for reviews on the Internet.
More than ever, we must be extra vigilant when carrying out a financial transaction on the Internet. Scammers are ready to use any means to scam you, especially during periods favorable to online shopping, such as the end-of-year holidays and sales periods. If you have been a victim of one of the two sites, file a complaint and report them on Theseus, the specialized portal of the Ministry of the Interior. Then send an alert to Fraud Repression, by completing the form available on SignalConso. Consider contacting your bank, as your credit card insurance may cover problems resulting from an online purchase. You can also join the ADC France collective. You can also try chargeback, which allows you to cancel the transaction and recover the sums incurred, provided you have not exceeded thirty days following the order.