• Anonymous ‘burner’ e-shops vanish before action can be taken: CAA
• Investigations hindered by lack of traceable information
• Education prioritised over enforcement in tackling e-commerce fraud

Prioritising educating the general public to avoid anonymous online burner shops is more effective than attempting to take punitive measures against such fraudulent e-commerce businesses, according to the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA).

Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, CAA Chairman Hemantha Samarakoon stated that the CAA could not of its own volition investigate and take action against any e-commerce businesses violating consumer rights, adding that it could only take action when a complaint was made by the public.

He further stated that a majority of the complaints made by the public to the CAA were with regard to anonymous online burner shops that disappeared without trace after a short period and that taking punitive action against such entities had proved to be a challenge.

“We have not received any complaints against reputed platforms such as Alibaba or Daraz. Instead, what happens is that once these online shops are set up, they ask customers to deposit money immediately, after which the social media page goes missing. In such a situation, who do we carry out the investigation against? 

“There is no relevant person, there are no phone numbers, or else, the business is not in operation. The public needs to be educated. If the public only deals with reputed platforms, many of these instances of fraud can be avoided,” he explained.

Samarakoon added that when a complaint was filed against an e-commerce business and if the CAA was able to identify the culprit, the necessary punitive actions would be taken if fraud had been committed. 

However, in the case of anonymous online burner shops, steps need to be taken to create awareness among the public to ensure they avoid these online businesses, since once a person falls victim to such a scam, filing a complaint with the CAA is usually a fruitless task due to the difficulties in identifying culprits.

Therefore, the CAA Chairman noted that the most effective method to counter such fraudulent schemes was creating public awareness rather than attempting to take punitive action against culprits.