Fake online shops: how to check a store before you pay
Fake shops copy real brands, run ads on social media and disappear after a few weeks. The goods never arrive, and the card details you typed can be used again.
The short version
- Prices far below every other shop are the biggest warning sign.
- A new domain, no company details and no real contact are the next ones.
- Pay by card or a buyer-protected method, never by bank transfer or crypto to a shop you do not know.
- Scan the shop before you pay.
A two-minute check before you pay
Compare the price
Big-brand shoes, electronics or furniture at 70 to 90 percent off, especially with a countdown timer, is the classic fake-shop offer.
Look at the address
A brand name followed by words like outlet, sale or store, or an unusual ending, is a warning sign. The real brand's shop is linked from its official site.
Find the company behind it
A real EU shop shows a company name, a registration number, a physical address and a way to reach a person. Copied terms, an address that is a car park, or only a contact form are red flags.
Check the payment options
Shops that push bank transfer, crypto or gift cards, or whose card payment "fails" and then offers a transfer, are almost always scams.
Scan the shop
Paste the address into the scan box below. Dralvia shows how old the domain is, where it is hosted and whether it imitates a brand, with a Safe, Caution or Avoid verdict.
If you already paid
- Paid by card: call your bank, explain it was a fraudulent shop and ask for a chargeback.
- Paid by bank transfer: call your bank immediately and ask them to try to recall the payment.
- Keep the order confirmation, screenshots of the shop and any emails.
- Report the shop to the police, to the consumer protection authority and to the platform where you saw the ad.
Check a link now, free
Paste the link you are unsure about. It opens in an isolated browser on our side, never on your device, and you get a verdict with the evidence behind it. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- The shop has lots of good reviews. Is it safe?
- Reviews shown on the shop itself can be invented. Look for independent reviews, and be wary when every review appeared in the same few weeks.
- The site has HTTPS. Doesn't that mean it is legitimate?
- No. HTTPS only means the connection is encrypted. Scam shops use it too.
More guides
Eight quick checks to tell a real link from a phishing link: see the real address, read the domain the right way, spot lookalikes, and scan it for free.
What the Dralvia risk score from 0 to 100 means, where the points come from, what Safe, Caution and Avoid ask you to do, and what a score cannot tell you.
Clicked a phishing link or typed your password into a fake page? The steps to take right now, depending on what happened, in the order that limits the damage.