‘I thought I was supporting a Kiwi business’: Shoppers caught by fake boutique

Sunday, 19 July 2026

Six shoppers told Stuff they believed they were buying online from an Arrowtown boutique, but either received poor-quality items that didn’t match what was advertised, or nothing at all.

The website claimed to be a boutique based in the popular tourist town, but customers reported receiving messages in Dutch.

Netsafe said scammers are increasingly creating sophisticated websites that impersonate legitimate New Zealand retailers, making it harder for consumers to identify.

For decades, this beautiful South Island town has built its reputation on its history, picturesque streets lined with independent boutiques, artisan stores and locally owned businesses.

But Arrowtown businesses are concerned their town’s reputation has been exploited by an “online scam” that appeared to be using its name to lure New Zealanders into believing they were buying from a local retailer.

Have you been a victim of an online scam? Email shilpy.arora@stuffdigital.co.nz

Stuff spoke to six online shoppers who said they believed they were buying clothing and accessories from an Arrowtown boutique called The Hawke Sisters, only to receive “dodgy” and “poor-quality” items that looked nothing like those advertised and, in some cases, received nothing at all.

In June, Christchurch woman Gail Rule ordered what she said appeared to be a warm, quilted jacket, believing she was supporting a Kiwi business.

She said that weeks later, she received emails in Dutch and, when it finally arrived, the jacket looked nothing like what was shown on the website.

“It was advertised as vintage floral quilted jacket. It feels like it's made out of recycled milk bottles.”

Rule said she paid about $99 from her pension for the jacket.

“That's heating for a month. It makes you feel like an idiot. It sucks away all the confidence to do anything online.

“I would never have bought it if I knew it was overseas [business]. I thought I was supporting a New Zealand business that was trying to get on its feet.”

‘Annoying and frustrating’

Auckland woman Parekura Mowbray also believed she was buying from an Arrowtown retailer.

She said she ordered clothes and a dog-shaped lamp but received poor-quality products that didn’t look like the images on the site. She said she also received emails in Dutch, asking her to review the products before they had arrived. And she said the courier tracking number provided by the retailer did not exist.

Mowbray said she contacted her bank but was told a charge back was unlikely because goods had been delivered.

Another Auckland customer, Robyn, who asked not to use her last name, said she spent $223 on three tops and a handbag after finding the website on social media.

But she said she never received her order.

“I saw the advertisement on Facebook, but didn’t click through from that. Instead I visited the website, which looked professional and believable,” she said.

“I didn’t notice at the time there was no address or phone number. Something I will check from now on.”

A ‘not as advertised’ kind of scam

Dunedin man David, who also requested his last name not be used, said bought a handmade quilted bag as a birthday gift for his wife after seeing a Facebook advertisement.

“They were apparently on sale, marked down from $200 to $70,” he said.

His suspicions were raised when he received a shipping notification saying the parcel was heading to an airport despite supposedly being dispatched from Arrowtown.

“I live in Dunedin and Arrowtown is about 3-4 hours’ drive away. Further suspicion came after I saw others post about the legitimacy of the company in the comments on their Facebook page.”

David said he contacted his bank immediately and a fraud case was opened which has been resolved in his favour.

In the meantime, the item arrived by post and, while superficially similar to what was advertised, was neither handmade nor from New Zealand, he said.

“The scam seems to be of the ‘not as advertised’ kind. I have since done a little digging and found these items for sale on a Chinese website as well as seeing other differently named stores selling the same thing.

“I have been quite alert to online scams over the years, so I was taken aback to fall for this one,” he said.

The website claimed to offer free shipping with NZ Post, a 30-day money-back guarantee and said it was trusted by more than 55,000 New Zealand women.

However, most buyers who spoke to Stuff said they never received any response to their emails when they asked for their money back.

‘Extremely disappointed’

There is no business called The Hawke Sisters on the Companies Register.

And Arrowtown Promotion & Business Association manager Nicky Busst said there was no bricks and mortar store called The Hawkes Sisters in the town. She said the association was “extremely disappointed” to see a website falsely claiming to be an Arrowtown business.

“Our town has earned a strong reputation for its authentic, locally owned businesses, and it’s concerning to see Arrowtown’s name being used in a way that could mislead consumers,” she said.

The association became aware of the website on June 23 after receiving complaints from across New Zealand, she said.

Some local stores had even received phone calls from confused customers asking if they had heard of the boutique, she said.

Stuff attempted to get comment from the people behind The Hawke Sisters. The website offered only one way of contacting them - by email.

There was no response to our written questions about the allegations made by the shoppers and business association.

But then, on Friday, when we attempted to visit the site, the store appeared to have been taken down, replaced with a message saying ‘this store is currently unavailable’.

‘High-quality’ scams becoming harder to spot

The association reported its concerns to Netsafe whose chief online safety officer, Sean Lyons, said websites impersonating New Zealand boutiques had become increasingly common.

“These are not the simple scams of five or 10 years ago where somebody would throw up a website that would look terrible and we could spot the difference between that and somebody that was actually trying to do genuine business online,” Lyons said.

“What we’re increasingly looking at are really high-quality impersonations of actual websites or complete fabrications of something that looks like it would be the business.”

Lyons urged shoppers to verify retailers before making a purchase by searching the Companies Register, confirming contact details and checking how long the website domain had existed.

He also warned that receiving a product did not necessarily mean shoppers had not been scammed.

“If you ordered a blue jacket made from 100% cotton by a particular brand, and what arrives isn’t what you ordered, that alone may not necessarily be fraud. But if there’s no way to return the goods and you can’t get in touch with the company, then it becomes quite clear that it is fraud,” he said.