beauty

A blackhead mask brand is scamming customers into paying for products they didn't order.

Peel-off blackhead masks are all the rage, but one brand in particular is leaving its customers with an unwanted side effect – letters from debt collectors.

In a report for A Current Affair, several women alleged online company LuxStyle International sent them letters demanding payment for products they hadn’t actually ordered.

Mum of two Rochelle said she was “excited” when she saw an advertisement for the brand’s Blackhead Killer, a take on the popular blackhead busting skin masks that have taken over social media of late.

Rochelle-blackhead-scam
Image: A Current Affair/Channel Nine
ADVERTISEMENT

"I clicked on the link to see how much it cost and that's when I found it cost too much so I turned it off and shut the page down," she told the program.

But she had already put in her address which she says the site asked for in order to see the price of the item. It wasn't until a few weeks later when she received an email demanding payment that it became clear something had happened.

"I didn't put my credit card details in so I didn't sign anything," she said.

It got so bad Rochelle said she had a debt recovery agency come after her.

"If you receive good that you didn't order, you can't be made to pay for them," a letter demanded.

A quick Google of the company, which is based in Denmark, now reveals thousands of warnings and reviews from other customers, both locally and internationally, who also claim to have been scammed.

blackhead-mask-scam-feature
A YouTuber tries the LuxStyle Blackhead Killer mask. Image: Youtube/Makeup by Vancheto
ADVERTISEMENT

A Current Affair also spoke to Serene, whose 15 year-old daughter received a package from LuxStyle containing two tubes of moisturiser, five sachets of blackhead remover and a bill for $70.

When the family didn't pay within 14 days, they received another bill. Serene believes her daughter accidentally clicked a Facebook ad which then autofilled her details.

"The first thing I wanted to do was return it, but there's no return address," she told the program.

After the segment aired on TV, hundreds of people took to social media to claim they had also been a victim of the scam.

Luxstyle-blackhead-mask-site
The site Serene says her daughter visited. Image: Screenshot
ADVERTISEMENT

"Oh my god. I literally thought I was the only one! The small package with a payment came to my house and I had no idea how, as I didn't order it. I emailed them and they told me I could send the product back or pay for it. They sent me three late fees and told me they were going to file a law suit!" wrote Claudia Shiner on A Current Affair's Facebook post.

"I just kept ignoring as they were being very rude and 'suss'. Also I never had time to send them back. I'm so happy this is on television because I had the worst gut feeling!"

ADVERTISEMENT

"This has already happened to me at the end of last year and I'm still receiving emails and letters by them asking me to pay or the debt collectors will come," added Kayla Lague.

Listen: What do you do when your friend wants you to join her pyramid scheme? Post continues after audio.

According to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Deputy Chair Delia Rickard, there has been a "huge influx" of complaints since January this year.

They released a public warning about the company last month.

"LuxStyle advertised its products on social media, directing potential customers to a website that did not display prices unless the consumer entered a mailing address and an email address. Consumers have complained that even though they did not proceed to order or purchase the goods and simply closed down the website window after viewing the price of the product, LuxStyle then posted the goods to consumers along with an invoice demanding payment and followed this up with subsequent invoices if consumers did not pay," the statement read.

"Consumers have reported that on some occasions where they did not pay, LuxStyle referred the matter to Australian-based debt collectors."

According to Ms Rickard, the ACCC was concerned that customers were reporting that they had paid for goods they did not order nor want in response to demands from LuxStyle.

"The Australian Consumer Law provides specific protection to Australian consumers. If a business sends unsolicited goods to an Australian consumer, the consumer is not required to pay for the goods, nor is the consumer required to pay to return the goods," she said in a statement.

Anyone who had received goods from LuxStyle or had been contacted by a debt collector about goods from the site were encouraged to lodge a report via the ACCC's website.

For more information on the scam and your rights as a consumer, please visit the ACCC website.