Scammer jailed for selling £500k of fake designer goods on Facebook

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 9 Oct, 23:00 · Archive

Barbara Murphy, 49, was sentenced to four years and four months for selling nearly £500,000 of counterfeit luxury items through Facebook.

Barbara Murphy, 49, from Skelmersdale in Lancashire, was sentenced to four years and four months in prison on 8 October after pleading guilty to fraudulent trading. She ran a Facebook account called 'Barbie Murphy' from her home between 2021 and 2025, selling counterfeit luxury items to unsuspecting customers.

Murphy sold fake clothing, jewellery and accessories from brands including Moncler, Armani, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Cartier. The products also included Jo Malone perfume sets, Nike trainers and Premier League football jerseys. She typically sold items at around half their legitimate retail price. If the counterfeit goods sold had been genuine, they would have been worth approximately £1.5 million.

Recorder John Richard Jones KC told the court that Murphy had knowingly sold counterfeit items without informing buyers of their status. He said the goods had been 'professionally represented' and that she had effectively operated like a shopping channel such as QVC. Trading Standards became aware of the Facebook page in December 2021 when suspiciously low prices raised concerns. Murphy was warned about selling counterfeit goods in March 2022 after police stopped her in a vehicle containing fake items, but her operation continued largely unchanged.

How it is being reported

• Scammer mum jailed after making £500,000 selling fake designer gear on FacebookBarbara Murphy used Facebook as a 'shopping channel' empire.Metro · 9 Oct, 22:45
• Scammer mum who used Facebook as 'shopping channel' to con buyers out of £500k for fake clothes jailedSkelmsersdale mum Barbara Murphy ran the online page 'Barbie Murphy', from which she sold nearly half a million pound's worth of counterfeit merchendise over four yearsThe Mirror · 9 Oct, 13:34

In this story: Barbara Murphy · Preston Crown Court · Skelmersdale · Lancashire · Trading Standards · Facebook

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