A website claims wildfire destroyed a single mom's clothing warehouse. But the store doesn't exist

The city of Flin Flon in northwestern Manitoba has faced wildfires and a massive evacuation — and now a fake online site has popped up claiming a clothing warehouse in the city burned down, and the single-mom owner has to sell off what's left.

But the site is fake. The store and warehouse don't exist, and Flin Flon's mayor says no buildings in the city of roughly 5,000 have been lost to fire. 

"It's disgusting. It's a terrible thing," Mayor George Fontaine said in an interview with CBC News. 

"There's enough bad things going on in Flin Flon right now that nature has provided for us. We don't need this kind of behaviour from people," Fontaine said. 

As of Tuesday, 25 active wildfires were burning in Manitoba, 10 of which are out of control. The largest fire in the province is located near Flin Flon, about 630 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, and is roughly 308,000 hectares in size, according to the province's latest fire bulletin.

It has forced the evacuation of a number of nearby communities, including the city of Flin Flon.

The website for Manitoba Mode says it's been in business for 15 years, but the website flogging its fire sale was created on May 29 — the day after a mandatory evacuation order was issued for the city, according to the Whois database, which stores information about registered domain users. 

The site features a plea from "Claire," the purported owner, who claims to be a "single mother in Flin Flon" whose warehouse was destroyed by a "devastating wildfire."

"By purchasing what's left, you're not only honouring the journey of this little boutique — you're helping me support my family and rebuild in the face of disaster," reads the website. 

Manitoba Mode is not listed in Flin Flon's business directory. Fontaine says if it exists, he's never heard of it. 

The site advertises men's and women's fashion, using photos scraped from the internet, taken from Amazon and other online retailers, with "deep discounts up to 80 per cent."

The website's terms of service say it's "governed by the laws of the Netherlands." It says any merchandise returns must be sent to its "central warehouse in Asia" at the customer's expense. 

A CBC analysis has found all indications that some of the pictures on the Manitoba Mode site are AI generated, including an image of a building on fire with fire trucks parked outside — and not a single firefighter or hose in sight. 

Another photo features the fake fashion brand's logo on a wall, with "Manitoba" misspelled as "Manitobe."