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Suspicious listings for luxury handbags believed to have been stolen during recent unrest in France have begun appearing on resale platforms. Shoppers hoping to snap up discounted Celine, Hermès and Louis Vuitton pieces could be at risk of unknowingly buying stolen goods, Bloomberg reports.

According to the publication, popular resale platform Vinted has been flooded with listings that may be linked to burglaries at boutiques during the unrest. The company has had to step up its screening efforts and remove suspicious posts.

Vinted has a particularly large customer base in France, but its business model makes it difficult to verify the provenance of every item. Unlike some specialized luxury resale services, Vinted does not require every high-value item to undergo expert authentication before being listed for sale.

Over the weekend, peaceful protests over the rising cost of living escalated into riots and looting. Videos circulated on social media showing rioters breaking into Louis Vuitton and Celine boutiques and carrying off merchandise. The cosmetics retailer Sephora also reported break-ins at several of its stores.

Shortly afterward, listings for designer handbags began appearing on Vinted, raising suspicions about the origins of the items.

France’s minister responsible for digital affairs, Anne Le Hénanff, called on online marketplaces to take immediate action. In a post on X, she said that items stolen during the unrest were being offered for sale on certain online platforms.

“Such behavior will not go unpunished. We will not let this go. We expect the relevant listings to be removed immediately. Platforms must also work closely with public authorities to ensure that those involved in reselling stolen goods can be held accountable,” she said.

Vinted said it had already begun cracking down on suspicious listings.

However, luxury resale expert Graham Wetzbarger, founder of the online platform The Fashion Detective, doubts that all the stolen items will be identified and returned to their rightful owners.

“If you’ve bought anything on a resale platform in the aftermath of the riots, you could be in possession of a stolen bag,” he warned in an interview with the New York Post.

According to Wetzbarger, even blockchain technology does not always make it possible to identify stolen goods promptly. Information about an item’s provenance may not come to light until the bag is taken to a store for cleaning or repair. Many buyers, however, may never seek those services.

Wetzbarger advises shoppers to exercise particular caution when buying luxury accessories on the secondhand market. If a Louis Vuitton bag appeared for sale in France only after the unrest began, still has its tags attached and is being offered at a suspiciously attractive price, he recommends holding off on the purchase until its origins can be verified.

“You found a Louis Vuitton bag that was only listed on Saturday? It’s in France? It still has the tags on it? I don’t know… I’d advise you to err on the side of caution and look at other options,” the expert concluded.

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