Online shopping scams are increasing due to the ease of setting up online shops on the internet nowadays. By attracting website visitors, scammers can deceive buyers effortlessly.
Unlike previous internet scams, these scams don’t require complex phishing tactics. This prevalence makes it challenging for users to differentiate between fake online stores and legitimate startups.
Established brands like Nike and Adidas are trustworthy and web users will have no problem buying from these online stores, but new legitimate stores that are struggling to gain visibility will have a hard time claiming their reputation.
The concern arises from scammers blending in with these lesser-known stores, making it difficult to identify new trustworthy sites to shop from.
This not only worries new brands but also poses a significant risk to online shoppers who might unknowingly purchase counterfeit items from scam stores, potentially losing their money.
To avoid losing money to online scam stores, it’s crucial to be vigilant in identifying their legitimacy. We will highlight ways to spot these scams, ensuring you don’t end up with fake or nonexistent products on your doorstep the next time you order something online.
What happens if you ordered from a fake store?
Accidentally ordering from a fake online store requires entering private details like email, address, phone number, full name, and credit card information.
Doing this step is critical, as these scams can lead to severe consequences. Unlike secure payment gateways used by legitimate companies, these scam stores lack encryption for your sensitive data.
Fraudsters can easily access the information you provide. Several outcomes are possible once they have your data, with the following being the most common scenarios.
A. You will receive a counterfeit product
Purchasing significantly discounted items from scam websites often leads to disappointment. Unrealistically low prices indicate an unreliable business model.
While there’s a slim chance you might receive a product, it won’t match what was displayed on the site. Instead, you might get a poorly made, defective, or incomplete item.
Typos in product names are common, reflecting the counterfeit nature of these products. Opting for the original website is your best bet to avoid these issues.
B. You will receive a different product instead
Scam stores operate with the advantage of knowing what they’ll send you, unconcerned about their reputation due to their short lifespan, often just a few months before being taken down.
They’ll replace your order with a cheap, inferior product, often costing even less than what you paid for the supposed “discounted” item—often at around 90% off.
This is a clear red flag and shouldn’t be trusted. If you’re tempted by a half-priced pair of AirPods, anticipate receiving entirely different products like unfamiliar Bluetooth earphones.
They might even send something resembling AirPods but from an unknown brand—essentially a complete money scam.
C. You will receive nothing at all
A likely scenario is receiving nothing at all. After paying on the scam website, you’ll be given a fake tracking number. Tracking won’t show progress even after months because it’s fabricated.
Scammers, having taken your money, decide whether to deliver or not – often they don’t bother.
If you question the delayed delivery, they’ll offer excuses like supply shortages or delays and ask for patience. Asking for a refund leads to them ignoring your messages completely.
If you suspect a store is a scam, don’t anticipate receiving anything in return. This unsettling situation shouldn’t be your experience. Your earned money deserves genuine products that are delivered as promised.
Avoid falling for massive discount scams on expensive items, as these are usually scams – except during Black Friday.
D. Unauthorized purchases on your credit card
Another possible situation involves your bank and credit card security. If your accounts aren’t adequately protected or if you’ve shared excessive information in the shipping form, scammers might exploit your credit card without your awareness – unless you look at your bank’s financial statements.
Remember, these scammers lack secure payment gateways, so the seemingly standard credit card input is essentially just a cleverly designed question form.
Anything you enter becomes accessible to them, including credit card details. This could lead to unauthorized purchases on your credit card for high-priced items.
If your purchases exceed your usual spending pattern, your bank might contact you to confirm the transactions.
If the transactions weren’t made by you, you’ll realize someone else is buying costly items using your card, especially when you’ve gone for the too-good-to-be-true half-price deals.
E. Potential identity theft
When scammers gather enough information about you, they might engage in identity theft, where they pretend to be you for their own harmful purposes.
Even worse than having your privacy and identity revealed is having them stolen by an unknown person, especially if their intentions are potentially harmful from the start.
They can secure a bank loan under your name, evading repayment and leaving you to settle the debt later. This is just one instance – there are numerous other ways they can exploit your identity.
For instance, they could ask your relatives for “emergency” funds, or even blackmail you by threatening to expose private information unless you comply with their demands. While different from identity theft, this is equally damaging.
What are the red flags of a fake online store?
Understanding the serious consequences of online scams, it’s essential to avoid falling for them, as they can result in lasting financial and emotional impacts on victims.
To protect others from becoming victims, here are the warning signs of a scam store that you should steer clear of from the start.
Unrealistic discounts and offers
A great deal is enticing, but an overly incredible offer usually comes with a catch. The contrast between 10% off and 90% off is stark enough to raise doubts – unless your greed takes over.
Scammers exploit this human psychology by creating fake online stores or listing items on reputable marketplaces for insanely cheap prices. In both cases, you risk receiving counterfeit goods or nothing at all as we have previously mentioned.
In the past, suspiciously low prices indicated replicas or fakes. However, counterfeits now pose as genuine products, using tactics like false clearance sales.
You might even receive bogus shipping details or be warned of delays, allowing scammers time to vanish before suspicion arises in case you were not inquiring about how long the shipping is taking place and why the parcel has not made a move yet.
Unsecured Website (Lacks HTTPS & Browser Warnings)
If your browser labels a site as deceptive or urges you to steer clear, comply with the alert. Doing so safeguards both your money and yourself. Modern browsers identify fraud patterns, cautioning users who attempt to enter such sites.
Also, be wary of a lack of HTTPS in the browser’s URL. HTTPS secures data by encryption. But remember, HTTPS isn’t the sole legitimacy indicator; it’s just a starting point.
Scammers also use HTTPS to appear less suspicious due to Google’s non-HTTPS flags. Legitimacy isn’t solely based on surface observations.
Determining a website’s safety involves more than just HTTPS. Surprisingly, some legitimate online stores lack HTTPS. While exceptions exist, caution should persist. Web users must approach every step with skepticism, even if a site seems credible without HTTPS.
Limited payment options: Particularly credit card-only sites
If an online store solely accepts credit and debit cards, be cautious – even if the store seems legitimate. Scammers also use this payment method exclusively, but not everything is that simple.
While some fake stores offer PayPal and other options, they still defraud customers either by not delivering the products. Other scammers acquire the user’s credit card instead because it lets them access larger sums than fixed fake discounts.
Combining these red flags creates a fake shop that users should be wary about. Additionally, check if the checkout page is encrypted using a secure gateway, not just a form.
To confirm this, look at the bottom of the page for third-party payment options like Alibaba Pay or Paypal.
For the tech-savvy, you can also inspect elements by right-clicking and assessing outbound and inbound connections. Look for secure destinations like payment gateways or identify unfamiliar, unrecognized domains.
Poor and unprofessional website design
Some scam websites exhibit impressive layouts and designs, but not all of these sites do. This is a significant warning sign because effective web design requires substantial investment; brands spend heavily to create appealing sites that attract users.
On the other hand, scammers lack the skills for such attractive designs. However, they may utilize a single effective template across multiple scam sites. Identifying reused templates from previously busted scam sites is a red flag.
Design isn’t the sole indicator; grammar matters too. Legitimate online stores prioritize error-free grammar, which scammers, originating from diverse regions worldwide, might struggle with.
While many can speak English, not all do so fluently. Thus, it’s wise to read product descriptions and other pages for errors when determining a site’s legitimacy.
If you notice image placement errors like overlays or elements not fitting well, it’s a sign of flawed padding in the website’s design – a clear red flag.
To gauge the website’s quality, view it in various screen formats. Try minimizing the browser width to check if the website remains optimized or if its layout breaks when transitioning to a mobile screen.
Steps to verify the legitimacy of an online store
Considering the outlined red flags, identifying a scam store website becomes clearer. However, amidst the number of low-traffic stores, some scams coexist with genuine businesses striving to establish an online presence. While recognizing scams is crucial, it’s equally important to distinguish legitimate enterprises.
Check the website’s domain age and registration details
One effective way to identify a scam store is through misleading advertising leading you to the site. Upon checking the website’s domain age (registration date), you might discover it’s only a week old.
This is suspicious since organic traffic does not come within a few days of site creation because Google doesn’t index new sites for months. Likely, this traffic originates from social media or ad arbitrage, drawing in potential victims for these scam products.
Thus, the next time you encounter such a store, examine its domain age to gauge whether you can trust a recently established website with your money.
You can use the Whois domain lookup tool to check a website’s domain age. Just input the website’s name, and you’ll receive its details, including registration date and owner information if privacy hasn’t been chosen.
Verify the contact information provided
Another significant red flag to watch out for is the contact information provided by the business owner. Most websites have a contact page, but scammers seeking to hide their identity often use fake physical addresses, phone numbers, and company names.
To verify this information, check if the website offers a physical address (not just a P.O. box) and input it into Google Maps or Earth to ensure it’s not a random location.
You can also call the provided number to see if anyone answers. Ask questions about the product or services to gauge their legitimacy. If you receive vague or uninformed responses, it’s likely a scam.
A useful tip is to search for the company’s LTD name or location using an ellipsis on Google (e.g., “Company LTD”). If multiple results show up, it indicates many stores might be using the same name, raising suspicion of a scam.
Applying this method to the address can also help; if numerous search results appear, the provided address is likely fake, and all search results related to that location are scams.
Make sure the website’s terms and policies are clear to understand
Did you know why most fraudulent schemes present investors with overly intricate investment strategies that seem senseless?
The complexity creates an illusion of legitimacy. By making something incomprehensible, questioning it becomes difficult. This holds true for fake online stores too.
When reviewing a website’s cancellation policy and purchase terms, a similar principle applies. If the policy is excessively detailed, incorporating conditions like time limits or specific prerequisites, and offers no straightforward answer, it’s likely a scam. These convoluted terms often get breached the moment you buy a product.
For instance, they might establish a 14-day refund policy. However, if three weeks pass and your item still hasn’t arrived, they’ll contend that refunds are only available within the initial 14 days, this is the case because they had already planned to deceive you from the outset.
Search for online reviews about the store
It’s common practice to seek reviews before making a purchase, whether online or offline, and this applies even more critically to online shopping scams.
Scammers employ tactics to discourage review research, often implementing countdowns to the discounts in order to create urgency.
They aim to prevent you from discovering their scheme before they have your money. Despite their tactics, always prioritize checking for reviews.
In the case of these scams, reviews can be suspiciously fake, overwhelmingly negative, or completely absent. In these instances, it’s wise to refrain from buying.
Identifying fake reviews involves looking for repetitive usernames, often composed of a few words and numbers. These reviews follow a similar writing pattern and lack any images as proof of purchase.
Bottom Line
Paying attention to warning signs and following verification steps will help you avoid fake products and prevent scammers from exploiting your identity and credit card.
When shopping, it’s advisable to opt for reputable stores with strong online reviews and a well-established presence. However, this doesn’t mean you should disregard new businesses; just be cautious and conduct thorough research before buying.
One important tip is that: Genuine businesses don’t pressure you with too-good-to-be-true offers coupled with urgent buying prompts.
We wish you successful and secure online shopping, where your hard-earned money translates into quality products at your doorstep.
Mark Rizova