How do I know if an online shop is real before I pay?

Before you pay a shop you have never used, spend two minutes on six checks: the web address, who runs the shop, its contact details and returns policy, the price, the reviews outside the shop, and the ways it lets you pay. If the shop fails any one of them, buy somewhere else. If you go ahead, pay by credit card where you can, as the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advises, and never by bank transfer, crypto or gift cards.

No single check is proof, and the last one, how you pay, decides whether you can get your money back if something goes wrong. Anyone can be fooled: fake shops copy real ones on purpose.

How can I check a shop in two minutes?

1. Look at the address bar. Is it the shop’s real web address, spelled exactly right?
2. Find who runs the shop. A company name, an address, a company or VAT number you can look up.
3. Read the contact page and the returns policy. A phone number and an email address, and clear rules for sending things back.
4. Compare the price. A brand-name product far below the price everywhere else is a warning.
5. Search the shop’s name outside the shop. Add the words “scam”, “complaint” or “review”.
6. Check how you are asked to pay. A card or a payment service with buyer protection should be offered; bank transfer, crypto or gift cards only is a stop sign.

Is the web address really the shop’s?

Scam shops often use addresses that look like a real retailer’s, the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warns. A made-up example: an ad for a brand called NorthPeak takes you to northpeak-outlet-sale[.]shop instead of the brand’s own site. If unsure, type the shop’s official address yourself, or search for the shop and read the results before clicking, the NCSC advises.

The padlock next to the address means the connection is encrypted, so others cannot read what you send. It does not prove the site is legitimate, the FTC notes.

The age of a web address can help. Registration details of web addresses are public: ICANN, the body that coordinates internet addresses, runs a free lookup, and for many addresses the details include the date of registration. A shop claiming “20 years of experience” on an address registered last month is a warning sign. A new address alone proves nothing: real shops open every day.

Who is behind the shop, and how do I look them up?

In the European Union, a shop must tell you who it is before you buy. The European Commission’s Your Europe page lists what the trader has to give you: its identity, address, telephone number and email address, its trade register number and, where it applies, its VAT details. Look in the footer, the “About us” page or the terms. If you cannot find a company name, stop there.

Then check that the name and number belong to a real, active business:

• Italy. The Agenzia delle Entrate’s VAT number check tells you whether a partita IVA is active, suspended or ceased, and shows the holder’s name and the date the activity started. The Chambers of Commerce register, Registro Imprese, has a free search by company name.
• Other EU countries. The European Commission’s VIES checks VAT numbers across the EU. An “invalid” answer can also mean the number is not activated for trade between EU countries: a reason to look further, not a verdict.
• UK. The Companies House register gives some details about a company for free, including its registered address and the date it was set up.

The limit: a real company number can be copied onto a fake site. If the name in the register differs from the shop’s, or a company set up recently claims a long history, treat the shop as fake.

What should the contact page and the returns policy say?

Check the returns policy before you buy, the FTC advises: how many days you have, who pays to send things back, and whether there are extra fees.

From a shop based in the EU, you normally have 14 days from delivery to change your mind about goods bought online, Your Europe explains, with exceptions such as food that expires quickly and goods made to order. You usually pay the postage to return them, unless the shop offers to pay or did not tell you the cost before. A shop that writes “no returns” on ordinary goods sold to EU customers is a warning sign.

If the shop is based outside the EU, EU consumer rights normally still apply when it targets EU customers, but enforcing them against a trader based outside the EU may be difficult, Your Europe says.

Is a very low price a warning sign?

Yes. If an ad’s prices are far below the prices elsewhere, it is likely a scam, the FTC says in an alert on fake brand ads. Unusually low prices on brand-name items can also mean counterfeit or stolen goods, the FTC’s online shopping guide adds. A made-up example of what that looks like: “Closing down, everything 80% off, offer ends in 09:59”. Compare the total price, delivery included, with shops you know.

Can I trust the reviews?

Not the ones on the shop’s own pages, which the shop controls. Read reviews from several sources and do not rely on star ratings alone, because some reviews are fake, the FTC advises; the NCSC suggests reviews from people or organizations you trust. Search the shop’s name and web address with “scam”, “complaint” or “review”. No reviews anywhere proves nothing, but it is a reason to pay in a way you can dispute.

What about ads on social media and copies of famous shops?

Scammers impersonate real companies on social media, advertising big discounts on brand-name products and sending people to fake websites, the FTC warned in August 2025. Do not assume the seller is the brand in the ad. In the US in 2025, more than 40% of people who lost money to a scam on social media said they had ordered something they saw in an ad, according to FTC data published in April 2026.

Leave the ad and type the brand’s own address yourself: if the offer is not there, treat the ad with suspicion. In the UK you can report a scam ad to the Advertising Standards Authority.

Which ways of paying protect me?

How you pay decides what happens if the goods never come.

• Credit card. The strongest protection, the FTC says: you can dispute a charge for something you never got. In the UK, a purchase paid partly or fully by credit card with a cash price over £100 and up to £30,000 can be covered by section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, the Financial Ombudsman Service explains.
• Debit card. In the UK, a chargeback lets you challenge a payment made by debit or credit card. The bank does not have to raise it, and you usually have around 120 days from the date you expected the goods, the Ombudsman says.
• Payment services with buyer protection. PayPal, for example, says on its US site that its Purchase Protection covers eligible purchases that do not arrive or are significantly not as described, if you open a dispute within 180 days of paying. For other services, check their terms, as the NCSC advises.
• Bank transfer, crypto, gift cards. The NCSC says never to pay an online shop by direct bank transfer, and the FTC says that only scammers demand payment by gift card, wire transfer, payment app or cryptocurrency, so a shop that asks you to send money through an app instead of a normal checkout is a stop sign.

In Italy, since 9 October 2025 your bank checks whether the name you type matches the account number before you send a transfer, ordinary or instant, and shows you the result before you confirm, the Banca d’Italia explains. A mismatch warning is a reason to stop; a match does not prove the shop is honest.

Is Black Friday different?

The checks are the same, but the rush makes them easier to skip. In the holiday season scammers run ads for brand-name products at unusually low prices, the FTC warned in November 2025; keep the receipt and the order confirmation number, which can help you get your money back. After you order, fake texts and emails say a parcel is waiting or an address is incomplete, hoping you click, as the FTC warned in December 2024. Look up the delivery on the site where you bought, never through a link in a message.

Marketplaces, where private people sell through a big platform, have their own rules and buyer protection. Before paying a seller there, read the platform’s own help pages on what is covered.

I’m about to pay and I’m not sure: what now?

1. Pause. A countdown on the page is not a reason to pay now.
2. Run the six checks above. If one fails, do not pay.
3. If you still want the product, type the brand’s or a shop’s address you know and buy it there.
4. If you already typed your card details into the site, even without paying, call your bank on the number on your card and ask it to block the card.
5. In the UK, you can report the site to the NCSC’s scam website service even if you did not pay.

I’ve already paid a shop that looks fake: what do I do?

Act the same day. The page Scammed: what to do first covers every case in detail.

If you paid by card (credit, debit or prepaid)

Call your bank or card company on the number on the back of your card or in its official app, the FTC advises, and ask them to refund the charge. If you typed your card details into the fake site, tell the bank straight away so it can block anyone using the card, as the NCSC advises. In the US, a dispute letter must reach the card company “within 60 days of the day the company mailed you the first bill showing the error”, the FTC’s online shopping guide says.

If you paid with PayPal or another payment service

Open a dispute in the service’s own app or website, not through a link in an email. Report the payment and ask for a refund, as the FTC advises for payment apps.

If you paid by bank transfer or instant transfer

Call your bank at once and ask it to try to stop or recover the payment. In the UK, transfers made by Faster Payments or CHAPS from one UK bank account to another are covered by a reimbursement requirement: report it to your bank within 13 months, and you can expect a decision within five business days, or up to 35 if the bank needs more information, the Payment Systems Regulator says.

If you paid by crypto or gift cards

Contact the exchange, the crypto ATM operator or the gift card company straight away and ask them to reverse the payment, the FTC advises. Keep the gift card and the receipt. Crypto payments have fewer legal protections than cards, the FTC notes, so recovery can be difficult.

Whatever the method, keep the evidence: the web address, screenshots of the product and the order, emails and receipts. And be careful of anyone who contacts you offering to get the money back for a fee: the FTC warns that scammers target people who have already paid scammers, and says never to pay upfront for help with a refund.

The goods never arrived: can I get my money back?

First try to sort it out with the shop, as the FTC advises: write with your order number, ask for delivery or a refund, and keep a copy. If there is no answer, go back to your bank or payment service with the evidence. The bank or the payment service decides on the refund; nobody can promise it in advance. Then report the shop.

If you are in Italy

Tell your bank immediately and report the fraud to the Polizia Postale, at its offices or through its online channels, as the Banca d’Italia advises. The “Segnala online” form is a report, not a formal complaint (denuncia), which you can file in person at a police office. If the bank refuses to help, you can file a complaint (reclamo) with it, which it must answer within 15 working days for payment services, and then turn to the Arbitro Bancario Finanziario, which requires that complaint first.

If you are in the UK

Tell your bank. Report the fraud to Report Fraud, formerly Action Fraud (it took over on 4 December 2025), online or on 0300 123 2040; in Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101. Report the website to the NCSC. If your bank refuses, you can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

If you are in the US

Tell your card company or bank, then report the shop to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. If your card company or bank does not resolve it, you can submit a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Elsewhere

Contact your bank, then the police and the consumer authority of your own country. If you live in the EU, Norway or Iceland and the shop is based in another of these countries, the European Consumer Centres give free advice.

Where to go next

• Scammed: what to do first lists the steps for the first 30 minutes, payment method by payment method.
• Encryption explains what the padlock in your browser protects, and what it does not.
• Is this text a scam? covers the fake delivery and payment texts that often follow an online purchase.
• Where to report a scam gives the official channels in 36 countries.
• How to protect yourself from online scams is the complete guide, updated every month.

Common questions

How can I tell if a website is a scam before buying?

Check that the address in the browser is the shop's real one, find the company name and look it up in an official register, read the contact page and the returns policy, compare the price with other shops and search the shop's name with the word "scam" or "complaint". If the shop fails one of these checks, buy somewhere else.

Is there a fake website checker I can trust?

Website-checking tools exist and can show useful facts, such as how recently a web address was registered. None of them can promise that a shop is honest: a new scam shop may not be in their lists yet, and a real shop can look new. Use them as one check among several, never as the only one.

Can I get my money back from a scam website?

It depends mostly on how you paid. Card payments and payment services with buyer protection have a dispute process with time limits, so call your bank or open a dispute the same day. Bank transfers, crypto and gift cards are much harder to recover, although in the UK transfers between UK bank accounts are now covered by a reimbursement rule. The bank or the payment service decides, not you or the shop.

Where do I report an online shopping scam?

Tell your bank or card company first, then report it: in Italy to the Polizia Postale, in the UK to Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud) or Police Scotland, in the US to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. In the UK you can also report the fake website itself to the National Cyber Security Centre.

Are Black Friday deals more likely to be scams?

The deals themselves are not the problem, but the rush is: fake shops and fake ads copy the discounts and the countdowns, and fake delivery messages follow the orders. Run the same checks as on any other day, and track parcels from the site where you bought, not from a link in a text.

Is a website with a padlock safe to buy from?

No. The padlock and "https" mean that the connection between your device and the website is encrypted. The US Federal Trade Commission points out that this does not prove the site is legitimate: a scam shop can have a padlock too.

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Topics: scams, online shopping, Black Friday, everyday questions