WALMART is under fire for allegedly allowing third-party sellers to impersonate the business and sell fake products on their site.
Shoppers have been persuaded to buy cheap items on the retail giant’s website only to receive potentially dangerous products with misspellings and botched packaging.
Mary May speaking to CNBC about how she received counterfeit supplements after buying them on Walmart’s marketplace[/caption]
Walmart’s online marketplace allows shoppers to buy cheap products from third-party sellers (stock image)[/caption]
Online users have been caught joining Walmart’s online marketplace, which allows third-party sellers to list their merchandise, and impersonating businesses in order to scam customers.
Buyers are drawn in by massive discounts to top brands available on Walmart’s official website, which offers online deals and a wide variety of products.
However, shoppers don’t always get what they order.
At least 43 vendors have been exposed as using the identity of another business to set up their seller account, CNBC reported.
Former employees told CNBC that Walmart has allegedly relaxed their vetting processes for sellers applying to offer their products online, requiring less documentation from applicants.
Now, consumers are furious that Walmart has allegedly allowed fraudsters to slip through the cracks.
“Walmart betrayed me,” customer Mary May told CNBC in an interview.
“They let me purchase something that could have harmed me, my family.”
MARY MAY’S STORY
In March, May bought eight bottles of her favorite daily brain supplements for herself and her sister when she noticed there was a “ridiculous sale” on Walmart’s marketplace.
But when the oral supplements arrived, May said the bottle had misspellings and the packaging looked unusual.
The supplements were later determined to be counterfeit, CNBC reported.
The seller had pretended to be another business to sign up for the marketplace.
“As a customer, I expect them to care about my well-being when I purchase something from them, May said.
“Whether it’s from a third-party seller or not, it’s on Walmart’s website.”
Walmart’s statement
A Walmart spokesperson issued the following statement after questioned about concerns over counterfeit products sold on Walmart’s online marketplace.
“Counterfeiters threaten brands and marketplaces worldwide, undermining trust and integrity. At Walmart, we continuously strengthen our marketplace to protect customers and sellers. Even with over half a billion products on our platform, we take swift, decisive action to remove any counterfeit goods and bad actors who fail to meet our standards.”
May was refunded for the fake products.
Walmart vowed in a statement to remove any fraud from their site.
“Counterfeiters threaten brands and marketplaces worldwide, undermining trust and integrity,” Walmart told The U.S. Sun.
“Even with over half a billion products on our platform, we take swift, decisive action to remove any counterfeit goods and bad actors who fail to meet our standards.”
May isn’t the only customer who was tricked by a massive price cut for shady items.
Shopper Aurora Aguilar told CNBC she bought skin-care products from a scammer pretending to be a legitimate business.
“I trust Walmart, I thought I was buying it from them,” Aguilar said.
“It’s their website.”
Anyone who suspects they’ve been sold a counterfeit product should stop using it and contact the company’s customer care team.
In July, Walmart cracked down on counterfeit items on their marketplace with a new policy and unlisted thousands of products.
It came after the Federal Trade Commission urged the business to catch sellers listing products with fake “Made in USA” tags.
Walmart vowed in a statement to protect their customers’ trust and integrity (stock)[/caption]
