How to Tell If an Online Shopping Site Is Fake
A mate of mine showed me a Facebook ad a few months ago for Ray-Ban sunglasses at 85% off. The site looked slick, product photos, reviews, even a live chat widget. He was about to enter his card details when I noticed the URL was rayban-summer-deals.shop. I told him to stop. He did. Two weeks later the site was gone entirely, and a quick Google turned up a dozen people who'd paid and received nothing. That could have been him.
Fake shopping sites are one of the fastest-growing scams online, especially around Boxing Day and EOFY sales in Australia. They're easy to create, cheap to run, and incredibly effective at stealing money and personal information. Here's how to spot them before you hand over your hard-earned cash.
10 Warning Signs of a Fake Online Store
1. Prices that are too good to be true. This is the most obvious red flag. If a website is selling a $200 product for $30, or everything is "90% off," something is wrong. Legitimate retailers run sales, but they don't routinely sell products below cost. If every item on the site has a massive discount with a "limited time" countdown timer, it's almost certainly fake.
2. Recently registered domain. Fake stores are created quickly and abandoned after collecting enough victims. Most scam shopping sites are less than a few months old. You can check a website's age using a WHOIS lookup tool. If the domain was registered within the last few months and claims to be an established retailer, that's a major red flag.
3. Suspicious URL. Look at the web address carefully. Fake stores often use domain names that are close to but not exactly the same as real brands, like "nikke-outlet.com" instead of "nike.com," or "amazonsale-deals.shop" instead of "amazon.com." They also frequently use unusual domain extensions like .shop, .store, .top, .buzz, or .xyz instead of .com.
🔍 Not sure about a shopping site?
Paste the URL into our free scanner. We check against Google Safe Browsing and known scam databases.
Check a URL, Free4. No real contact information. Legitimate businesses provide a physical address, phone number, and email address, not just a contact form. Check if the physical address actually exists using Google Maps. If the "about us" page is vague, the contact page only has a form, or the phone number doesn't work, be cautious.
5. Poor website quality. While some fake sites are well-made, many have telltale signs of low effort: broken pages, placeholder text ("Lorem ipsum"), inconsistent fonts and styling, images that look stolen or watermarked, and product descriptions that seem copied from other sites or generated by AI with awkward phrasing.
6. No social media presence or fake followers. Check the store's social media accounts. Do they actually exist? How old are they? Do they have real engagement or just a bunch of suspicious-looking followers? A legitimate business that's been around for years will have an established social media history, not an account created last month with generic posts.
7. Limited or suspicious payment options. Be wary if a site only accepts wire transfers, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or direct bank transfers. Legitimate Australian stores accept credit cards and established payment methods like PayPal, Apple Pay, Afterpay, or Google Pay, methods that offer buyer protection. Some scam sites show credit card logos but then redirect you to a different payment method at checkout. If there's no Afterpay or PayPal option on an Australian-targeting store, that's suspicious.
8. Missing or copied policies. Check the return policy, shipping policy, and terms of service. Are they actually filled out with real information, or are they generic templates? Some scam sites copy policies word-for-word from legitimate retailers, you might find references to a completely different company name buried in the text.
9. No independent reviews. Search for the store's name plus "review" or "scam" on Google. If you find nothing, that's suspicious for a store claiming to have thousands of customers. If you find multiple people reporting it as a scam, trust them. Don't rely on reviews on the site itself, those are trivially easy to fake.
10. Pressure tactics. Countdown timers ("Sale ends in 2:34:15!"), low stock warnings ("Only 2 left!"), and pop-ups showing other people's "recent purchases" are all designed to rush you into buying before you have time to think or research. While legitimate sites use some of these tactics, scam sites use them aggressively on every single product. This is what frustrates me most about online shopping scams, social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram profit from the ad revenue these fake stores generate, yet their automated review systems consistently fail to catch even the most obvious scam ads, leaving ordinary people to fend for themselves against polished, professional-looking fraud operations.
How to Verify a Shopping Site Before You Buy
Before entering any payment information on an unfamiliar site, do a quick verification:
Search for reviews outside the site. Google the store name plus "scam" or "reviews." Check Trustpilot, Reddit, and consumer protection forums. A few minutes of research can save you from losing money.
Check the URL with a scanner. Use ScanTotal's URL scanner or Google Safe Browsing to check if the site has been flagged as malicious or deceptive.
Look up the WHOIS information. Check when the domain was registered. A site claiming to be an established store but registered two months ago is a scam.
Check for HTTPS, but don't rely on it alone. HTTPS (the padlock icon) only means the connection is encrypted. Scam sites use HTTPS too. It's a minimum requirement, not proof of legitimacy.
Try contacting them. Send an email or call their phone number before ordering. If the email bounces, the phone doesn't work, or you get no response, don't buy from them.
What to Do If You Already Bought from a Fake Site
If you realise you've purchased from a scam site, act quickly. Contact your bank or credit card company immediately and request a chargeback on the transaction. Change your password if you created an account on the fake site, and change it anywhere else you use the same password. Save evidence including screenshots, emails, order confirmations, and the website URL. In Australia, report to Scamwatch (scamwatch.gov.au) and the ACCC. You can also report to the platform where you found the ad. Monitor your bank statements closely for the next few months for any unauthorised charges. Do it today. Not tomorrow.
💳 Paid by credit card?
You're in the best position to recover your money. Call your credit card company and request a chargeback. Credit card companies are experienced with these disputes and frequently side with the consumer when a merchant is fraudulent.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I check if an online store is legitimate?
Check domain age via WHOIS, look for real contact info, search for independent reviews, verify the URL matches the brand exactly, and use ScanTotal's URL scanner to check for known threats.
What should I do if I bought from a fake website?
Contact your bank immediately for a chargeback. Change passwords, monitor your statements, save evidence, and report the site to the FTC or your local consumer protection agency.
Are all websites with HTTPS safe to shop on?
No. HTTPS only encrypts the connection, it doesn't verify the site is legitimate. Scam sites use HTTPS too. The padlock means your data is encrypted in transit, not that the business is trustworthy.
Why are fake shopping sites so common on social media?
Social platforms let anyone create ads, and their review processes don't catch every scam. Scammers target impulse buyers with stolen product photos, too-good-to-be-true prices, and fake urgency.
What I Always Tell People
If you found the store through a social media ad and you've never heard of the brand, spend two minutes checking before you spend two hundred dollars regretting it. Google the store name plus "scam." Check the domain age. Look at the URL. My mate's near-miss with that fake Ray-Ban site is far from unique, I've seen fake Kogan stores, fake JB Hi-Fi clearance sites, and fake Nike outlets pop up every single sale season. The scammers are fast, but a WHOIS lookup and a URL scan are faster. Trust your instincts when a price seems impossible.