Is This Online Store Real? How to Spot a Fake Shopping Site Before You Pay

Here is what is actually true: anyone can build a professional-looking online store in an afternoon, and scammers do it by the thousands, especially as the holidays approach. A fake store looks real, takes your money, and then sends nothing, or sends a cheap knockoff. The good news is that most of them give themselves away if you know where to look.

How fake stores work

Scammers copy photos and product descriptions from real retailers, set up a site, and then draw you in with ads on social media or search results. The hook is nearly always a price that is too good to be true: a name-brand coat at 70 percent off, or a hard-to-find toy that is sold out everywhere else. The site only has to look convincing long enough for you to type in your card number.

Seven warning signs

1. The price is far below every other store. Real retailers cannot sell brand-new items at a huge loss, and neither can a stranger's website.

2. The web address is slightly off. Look at the address bar at the top of your browser. A fake might use a real brand's name with extra words or odd endings, such as "brandname-outlet-sale" or ".shop" instead of the usual ".com". The little padlock does not mean a site is trustworthy; it only means your connection to the site is scrambled, and scammers can get padlocks too.

3. There is no real contact information. Look for a physical address, a phone number that rings a person, and clear return and shipping policies. Fake sites often have none, or copy text that does not match the store's name.

4. They want unusual payment methods. Gift cards, wire transfers, payment apps that send money to a person, and cryptocurrency are all red flags. These methods are hard or impossible to reverse once the money is gone.

5. The site is brand new. A store claiming years in business may have been created last month. You can look up when a website was registered by searching for "domain lookup" and typing in the address.

6. The reviews feel strange. Pages of glowing five-star reviews written in similar wording are suspicious. Search the store's name plus the word "scam" or "reviews" on a separate site, and see what independent customers say.

7. Pressure tactics. Countdown timers, "only 2 left," and pop-ups claiming other people are buying right now are designed to rush you past your better judgment.

A five-minute check before you buy

First, go to the store yourself instead of tapping an ad. Type the retailer's name into a search engine, or type the address you already know. Second, read the web address letter by letter. Third, search for outside reviews. Fourth, look for a real phone number or address. If any of these fail, walk away. There will always be another sale.

Protect yourself when you pay

Use a credit card rather than a debit card when you can. In the United States, federal law gives credit card users strong protection to dispute charges for goods that never arrive, while a debit card pulls money straight from your bank account, which can be harder to recover. Many card companies also offer one-time virtual card numbers, which let you shop with a number that only works once. Ask your card company if yours does.

What to do if you already paid

Do not panic, and act quickly. Call the number on the back of your card and tell them you were scammed by a fake store; ask to dispute the charge and get a new card number. Keep screenshots of the website, your order confirmation, and any emails. Change the password on any account you created on the site, and on any other account that uses the same password. Finally, report the site to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Reports help investigators shut these sites down and warn other shoppers.

The bottom line

A store that looks polished is not necessarily a store that exists. Slow down, check the address, pay with a credit card, and trust your instincts when a deal seems too good to be true. For more on spotting tricks like this, see our guides to fake text messages and QR codes.