Viral Upselling of Desy Umbara Perfume; YLKI Reminds Business Operators Not to Trap Consumers

Influencer Desy Umbara has come under scrutiny after allegedly becoming a victim of an upselling scheme at luxury perfume retailer C&F Grand Indonesia. In a video uploaded to her personal Instagram account, Desy recounted her experience purchasing Giorgio Armani perfume for the first time.

Desy stated that she purchased the perfume for Rp1,970,000 and received a complimentary facial wash. According to C&F staff, the facial wash product was given at no cost.

“I bought this perfume for Rp1,970,000 and got a free facial wash worth Rp504,000,” Desy said in her video, posted on Wednesday (11 March 2026).

Desy revealed that she was encouraged to purchase the perfume after smelling the fragrance on another content creator. She also admitted feeling uncomfortable buying an expensive perfume for the first time.

“I plucked up courage to buy a perfume worth over a million rupiah. The brand is Armani. I bought it because of Fahmi Cihuy—the fragrance smells amazing. When he creates content, he smells so good. When I asked him, it turned out he uses this perfume, so I ended up buying it too. Sorry if it seems unsophisticated, but this is genuinely the first time I’ve bought such an expensive perfume,” Desy said.

However, several internet users noticed a screenshot of the purchase receipt also displayed in Desy’s content. The receipt revealed that the facial wash described as free was listed at Rp504,000 with a deduction of Rp100,000, whilst the perfume Desy purchased received a discount of Rp349,000.

When these two discounts were combined, the total equalled the price of the facial wash described as a “free gift”. This sparked widespread discussion amongst internet users, leading to suspicions that the product was not entirely free but rather part of an upselling scheme.

“Sister, it looks like you fell victim to an upsell from the sales assistant,” commented a user with the account @terryibra**.

“I once fell for C&F Lippo Puri’s upselling too—they said this and that were free but it turned out we had to pay. I thought C&F had reformed, but it seems they’re getting worse with their trapping tactics,” said another user with the account @Irsth**.