The sea glass artist fighting online fraudsters
BBCA jewellery maker is fighting to stop hundreds of online accounts selling imitations of her work.
Joanna Castor, from Saltburn, who makes items out of sea glass, said fake sellers had used promotional photos of her creations and claimed they had made them.
The accounts then either delivered nothing or a "really horrible knock-off version", she said.
Online retailers Amazon and eBay said they had measures in place to prevent counterfeit products being listed.
Ms Castor said various online accounts had plagarised her product images and were passing off her work as their own.
She started her small business because she had three children, one with special needs, and needed flexibility to get to health appointments.
"It's so awful," she said. "This is how we pay the mortgage, this is how I put food on the table."
The scammers went further and plagiarised her genuine reviews on Etsy, as well as customers' own review photos, Ms Castor said.
When she ordered a fake version from China, she said the copy of her artwork that arrived was "really horrible".
Ms Castor said she had registered more than 160 infringements on Amazon and more than 100 on eBay.
When she got legal advice, Ms Castor was told she had done everything right.
"I'd supposedly protected myself the best way a small business can and even with all that, they turned round and said, 'well, there's not much we can do without you possibly sacrificing your business because it would cost so much," she said.
Ms Castor said she would not give up her fight to stop people copying her work.
"My business is like my fourth baby. Like a lioness, nobody messes with my children, so in a way, they've really picked the wrong person."
An eBay spokesperson said: “We use multiple layers of technology, trained investigators, and buyer protection programs to help ensure goods sold on our platform are authentic and do not infringe intellectual property rights.
"We have removed the listings reported to us by [Ms Castor].”
Meanwhile, Amazon said Ms Castor had flagged a number of listings and on nearly every single occasion they had suppressed the products.
A spokesperson said: "We have proactive measures in place to prevent counterfeit products from being listed, and from the moment a seller lists a product for sale, our advanced technology continually scans for potential counterfeit, fraud, and abuse - including future changes submitted for the product."
Ms Castor's experience does not seem to be unique.
Karen Price, from Scotland, said her images had also been taken and used to sell counterfeit versions of her products.
"It's very distressing," she said. "The first time it happened, I was absolutely gutted
"It doesn't appear that there is anything I can do about it."
Follow BBC Tees on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].