Fake deal-laden Giro UK website a scam, warns distributor

Giro customers in the UK have been warned that a website purporting to belong to the American bike helmet and clothing manufacturer is fake and a scam attempting to extract credit card numbers from unsuspecting consumers.

The website, girouk.com, appears to be a very convincing replica of the official Giro website, offering deals – usually a nominal discount of around £10 – on almost all of the brand’s products. However, Zyro Fisher, Giro’s UK distributor, has today confirmed that the site is a scam.

The address of the Giro’s official and genuine UK website, which features several key yet subtle differences to its scam counterpart, is giro.co.uk.

The real Giro UK site

According to Singletrack World, who first reported on the potential scam after readers reported problems with the site, the website was first registered in 2023 by a Pakistan-based domain registration company called PakNic, while the site’s owner remains unknown.

Some of the scam site’s ‘offers’

Customers who attempted to buy products from the site have reported that, after entering their debit or credit card details and personal information, the transaction was declined. This suggests that the scammers behind the website are attempting to collect a list of valid card numbers from customers, which can then be sold on the black market.

> Giant warns bike buyers of scam website and is working to get it removed

This isn’t the first time that online scammers have created fake websites purporting to be a well-known cycling manufacturer or retailer in a bid to swindle consumers.

Last August, Giant warned customers of a scam website pretending to sell the manufacturer’s products, which it successfully attempted to remove. Giant’s risk manager Alan Needle said at the time that he was “not sure” if any customers had been affected.

The website, posing as Giant Bicycles’ US domain, was also investigated by the Federal Trade Commission, the body which investigates online scams in the United States, as well as Giant’s Taiwan-based legal team.

Like the Giro scam, the fake Giant site followed the pattern of many other fraudulent websites we have reported on in the past few years, using an at first glance believable website, but featuring clear red flags, such as payment options including cryptocurrency, cash app, or ‘bankwire transfer’. However, unlike the Giro example, Giant’s site included no credit or debit card option when ‘purchasing’, while its website was riddled with poorly written information full of spelling errors.

The rapid rise of scam cycling websites in recent years owed much to the lockdown boom in bike sales, with criminals hoping to profit from the increased demand by selling from fake websites claiming to offer tempting discounts to buyers.

> Bike shortage sees scammers target shoppers with fake websites

In November 2022, we reported that FSA, SRAM, and DMR had all reported fake sites during the autumn, with fraudsters apparently keen to make money from bargain hunters in the lead-up to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas.

In 2018 too, Scott warned customers about fake websites with "too good to be true" prices, claiming to offer discounts of up to 90 per cent.

> Beware! More fake bike websites trying to scam you

Limited availability and supply chain issues have also brought the problem of counterfeit products being sold online as cyclists were left searching far and wide for certain products and components.

In 2022 we spoke to Shimano about the issue, resulting in this handy feature to help you spot counterfeit bike components and avoid getting ripped off.