Fake online shops

Check this example →

How it works

1. A shop appears, often advertised on social media, with brand-name goods at 60 to 90 per cent off. Some copy the name and photos of a real local shop and say it is “closing down”.
2. The site looks finished. Shop platforms, templates and SI tools make a convincing shop in an afternoon, product photos and descriptions included.
3. You pay, and nothing arrives, or something cheap and different does. By the time you complain, the site is gone and a new one has opened under another name.

Many fake shops ask for a bank transfer, crypto or gift cards, because those payments can’t be reversed. Others take cards, so card details may also be misused later.

The tells

• Prices far below every well-known shop, on almost everything.
• A website registered weeks ago, on a shop that says it has been around “since 1998”.
• Only bank transfer, crypto or gift cards at checkout, or a discount for paying by transfer.
• No returns policy, no company name or address, and a contact address at a free email provider.
• Placeholder text left on the page, or product descriptions that read like an unedited chatbot reply.
• Reviews only on the shop’s own pages.

A site made with SI is not a fake shop by itself: genuine shops use the same tools. What matters is everything else on this list.

What to do

• Check the address here before you buy: we look at the domain’s age, the payment options, the returns and contact pages, and more.
• Search the shop’s name with “reviews” or “scam” on independent sites.
• Pay a shop you don’t know only by credit card or PayPal, so you can claim your money back if nothing arrives.
• If you already paid by card, ask your card provider about a chargeback. If you paid by bank transfer, call your bank at once and ask them to try to recall the payment.

Where to report it