Spot a Fake Online Shopping Website: Don't Get Scammed!
The Fake Online Store Scam tricks you into buying products from non-existent shops. Scammers create realistic-looking websites with unbelievably low prices, collect your payment and personal details, and then never deliver the goods. This leaves you out of pocket with no product and potentially compromised financial information.
How This Scam Works
Scammers advertise non-existent products, often high-demand or luxury items, at significantly discounted prices on social media, search engine ads, or via phishing emails and texts.
They create professional-looking websites that often mimic legitimate brands or online retailers, featuring compelling product photos and fake customer reviews to build trust and urgency.
The website prompts you to add items to a cart and proceed to checkout, where they ask for your full payment details (credit card, bank transfer, or even cryptocurrency) and shipping information.
After you make a purchase, the product is never shipped. The website might disappear, customer service becomes unresponsive, or you receive a cheap, counterfeit item. Your financial information is now compromised.
Real Example
"Sarah saw an Instagram ad for a designer handbag at 80% off from an unfamiliar online store. The website looked legitimate, with professional photos and glowing customer testimonials. Excited by the deal, she entered her credit card details and shipping address. After receiving a confirmation email, the 'tracking number' never updated, her emails to customer service went unanswered, and the website vanished a week later, leaving her out hundreds of dollars."
⚠️ Warning Signs
Prices that are too good to be true, often significantly lower than market value for popular or luxury items.
Poor grammar, spelling mistakes, or awkward phrasing on the website's pages.
Lack of essential contact information like a physical address or phone number, or only a generic email address (e.g., @gmail.com).
Only accepts insecure payment methods like wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or requests payments outside the website's checkout process.
A suspicious domain name that uses misspellings of famous brands, extra words (e.g., 'brand-shop-store.com'), or unusual extensions (.xyz, .top).
Aggressive pop-ups, constant countdown timers, or other high-pressure tactics urging immediate purchase.
What To Do If You Encounter This Scam
Do not click on suspicious links from unsolicited emails or social media ads. Always type the store's URL directly into your browser.
If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Research the store by looking for independent reviews or reports of scams.
Use Scamtinel to check the URL of any unfamiliar online store before providing personal or payment information.
Report suspicious websites to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), and the platform where you encountered the ad.
Already fell for it?
Immediately contact your bank or credit card company to report the fraudulent charge and cancel your card to prevent further unauthorized transactions. Change passwords for any online accounts that might share credentials used on the fake site. File a report with the FTC and the IC3 to help authorities track these scammers.
Scamtinel tip
Always paste the URL of any unfamiliar online store into Scamtinel before entering personal or payment information. Scamtinel will analyze the link and tell you if it's a known fake website scam, helping you avoid losing money and compromising your data.
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From the Blog
Last updated: May 3, 2026 · ← All scam types