BREA, Calif. (BRAIN) — E-bike manufacturer Aventon was the victim of a fake Facebook page and website, advertising discounted models of up to 70% off retail.
Aventon was made aware of the situation Thursday by BRAIN, and by Friday the Facebook page was taken down, but the website was still active on Friday afternoon. It's not known if any customer data was breached or any fraudulent charges have been made.
On Tuesday, Aventon issued a statement to BRAIN.
“We are actively taking in customer/consumer/partner reports of the various scam websites created. We are proactively submitting DMCA Takedown reports to various website hosts. We are filing trademark infringement complaints with various domain hosts, and also we are reporting the fraudulent Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok ads that we are aware of and there is no data breach.”
Aventon posted on X last week warning of "an increase in fraudulent sites pretending to sell our products. To ensure you're getting the real deal, always shop directly from our official website or one of our 1,800+ authorized dealers nationwide."
The Facebook page had the lead post, "Closing the Shop" and a photo of what looks like an Aventon showroom with red signs hanging in the background ("Store Closing Sale This Location Only," "Everything 80% 90% Off," and "Everything Must Go") and Aventon e-bikes with hang tags displaying "Sale $99."
"Get up to 70% off any of the products," the post read. "Be quick to grab the discount before we run out of stock. After two consecutive years of performance losses, Overseas (sic) warehouse inventory are (sic) sold in limited quantities online at low prices."
The website has Aventon models listed from $92.95 to $98.95. Any model can be selected and placed in the shopping cart, and BRAIN was able to go all the way to checkout before selecting a payment option.
