Since Argo Business Solutions began supporting the Teddy Group – one of the international leaders in fashion retail, with the brands Rinascimento, Terranova and Calliope – the online protection of the three brands has delivered particularly significant results. Between 2023 and 2026, the Argo team continuously monitored the entire digital ecosystem, achieving a neutralization rate for identified threats close to 100%.
The context: fast-growing brands, increasing global exposure
The Teddy Group closed 2024 with consolidated revenues of over 735 million euros (+7.5% on 2023), a network of about 900 stores in more than 40 countries, a brand presence in over 80 markets and an e-commerce channel whose revenue doubled in a single year. It is precisely this trajectory of rapid growth – in which the Group continues to invest through ambitious international expansion plans – that makes Rinascimento, Terranova and Calliope prime targets for the illicit exploitation of brand identity: the greater a brand's reputation and reach, the larger the attack surface for those looking to take advantage of its recognizability to deceive consumers.
Extensive monitoring: over 12,000 sites analyzed
To ensure effective protection, Argo's work is based on constant scanning of the entire digital ecosystem: over 12,000 websites containing references to the Group's brands have been identified, analyzed and classified. The vast majority of these pages do not pose a direct threat – they are mostly empty pages, parked domains or sites unrelated to the sector – but extensive monitoring is precisely what makes it possible to isolate the truly problematic subset with precision, so that significant threats do not go unnoticed. This analysis reveals an effective risk perimeter of about 530 illicit sites: mainly clone sites (over 450) and fake e-commerce stores (over 70), plus a few cases of phishing and copyright and trademark infringement.
The clone site phenomenon
The most significant phenomenon intercepted by Argo's monitoring concerns so-called clone sites, i.e. fraudulent web platforms built to imitate the look, structure and content of a brand's official websites, with the aim of inducing consumers to enter personal data, credentials or payment details in the belief that they are on the brand's legitimate site. Since Argo's protection began, over 450 clone sites linked to the Teddy Group's brands have been identified, with Rinascimento the most exposed brand (over 260 clones), followed by Terranova (about 100) and Calliope (over 90). Technical analysis of the infrastructure used by counterfeiters has made it possible to identify recurring patterns and to uncover organized networks, often operating from abroad and using methods that evolve over time to evade controls.
Results achieved: over 98% of clone sites no longer reachable
On the enforcement front – the term for the set of operational actions that lead to the actual removal of illicit content from the web, through qualified reports to platforms, hosting providers and the competent authorities – Argo's work has produced outstanding results. The main tool is the so-called takedown procedure, i.e. the formal, reasoned and documented request for the removal of an illicit site or content.
Within the clone site perimeter, over 98% of the identified platforms are no longer reachable today: more than 300 were removed directly following Argo's intervention, while about 140 have gone offline for other reasons; only a handful of procedures are still ongoing. Overall, across the entire collaboration, Argo has initiated over 330 takedowns and obtained the removal of more than 320 infringing sites, with a procedure success rate above 97%. In addition to these consolidated results, there are new procedures launched in recent weeks against newly emerged threats.
The fake e-commerce phenomenon
Alongside clone sites, Argo's monitoring has intercepted a fast-growing category of threat: fake e-commerce stores. Over 70 platforms have been detected in total – an increase of almost twenty in the latest period – that simulate the sale of Rinascimento, Calliope and Terranova products but in reality show recurring fraudulent patterns. In some cases counterfeit, low-quality or falsely labeled goods are sold; in others the payment is collected but nothing is ever shipped; in still others the consumer receives items completely different from those ordered. Here too, Rinascimento is the most affected brand (over thirty fake shops), followed by Terranova (over twenty) and Calliope (almost twenty). Some of these platforms are already offline, while removal procedures are under way for the rest.
Parked domains and preventive reports
Argo's protection also extends to over 8,000 inactive, parked or for-sale domains, constantly monitored so as to promptly intercept any transformation into illicit or clone sites. These are joined by over 200 generic alert reports, which include both offline sites linked to already known illicit networks and third-party apparel companies that have registered domain names containing the monitored brands. This is essential preventive work: stepping in at the early stage, before a parked domain turns into an active clone site, drastically cuts enforcement times and costs.
The strategic value of Argo's work
For a group like Teddy – present in dozens of countries and with a rapidly expanding digital channel – protecting the brand online is not just a legal tool but also a reputational and commercial one. Every clone removed means consumers who are not deceived, sales that are not lost, brand trust that is not eroded. The recognition of Argo Business Solutions as a Trusted Flagger under the Digital Services Act, granted by AGCOM in January 2025 with resolution 26/25/CONS, further strengthens its capacity to act: the reports Argo submits to the major digital platforms receive priority handling, with removal times significantly shorter than market standards.
Argo's integrated approach to brand protection
The Teddy Group case confirms the validity of an integrated approach that combines continuous monitoring of the global digital ecosystem through the proprietary Fasidar platform, accurate classification of violations by type and severity, timely enforcement supported by Argo's AGCOM Trusted Flagger status, detailed reporting to support the client's strategic decisions, and intelligence analysis of counterfeiter networks, which is essential to reconstruct operating patterns and prevent new violations. For fashion retail companies and for any brand of national or international relevance, Argo Business Solutions offers customized online brand protection solutions, built around each client's specific needs and calibrated to the actual risk perimeter.
Want to know more about Argo's online brand protection services? Contact us for a personalized consultation.