How to tell if a shopping site is a scam
- It’s brand new. Most fake shops are registered weeks before they appear in your feed. A shop that claims “since 1998” on a domain from last month is lying.
- The prices are too good. Designer goods at 80–90% off, “closing down” sales and countdown timers are the classic bait.
- It borrows a big name. Addresses like brand-outlet-sale.shop are not the brand.
- Odd ways to pay. Zelle, wire, crypto or gift cards only? Walk away. Pay by credit card, which lets you dispute a charge. See our Marketplace scams guide.
- No real contact. No street address, only a contact form or a Gmail address.
Already paid a scam shop?
- Call your card company and dispute the charge; say you never received the goods or they were counterfeit.
- Change any password you used on the site.
- Report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov.