Shopping Scams
Avoid fake online stores and too-good-to-be-true deals. Protect your payment information while shopping online.
What is Shopping?
Shopping scams involve fake online stores, counterfeit products, or deals that seem too good to be true. These fake stores often appear in social media ads, offering luxury goods at steep discounts. After payment, victims receive nothing, receive counterfeit goods, or have their payment information stolen.
Scammers create professional-looking websites that mimic real brands or create fictional stores. They use paid social media advertising to reach potential victims and may even run promotions around holidays and shopping events when consumers are actively looking for deals.
Some shopping scams operate as data harvesting operations — the "store" collects credit card numbers, addresses, and personal details that are then sold on the dark web or used for identity theft.
How to Identify This Scam
- 1Prices that are significantly below market value (70-90% off luxury goods)
- 2Website has no physical address, phone number, or customer service contact
- 3Only accepts unusual payment methods (wire transfer, cryptocurrency, gift cards)
- 4No return policy or an unreasonably strict one
- 5Poor grammar and low-quality product images stolen from other sites
- 6Domain was registered very recently (check WHOIS)
Real Examples (Anonymized)
An Instagram ad offers Ray-Ban sunglasses for $24.99 (normally $150+). The website looks professional but the URL is "rayban-outlet-sale.shop" and was registered last week.
A Facebook Marketplace seller offers a PS5 for $150. They insist on payment via Zelle before meeting and say they can ship it.
What to Do If You Receive One
- Research the store before buying — search "[store name] reviews" and "[store name] scam"
- Use credit cards instead of debit cards for online purchases (better fraud protection)
- Check the website's domain age using WHOIS lookup
- If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is
- Report fake stores to the platform where you found them