Shop check

How to spot a fake online shop: check the seller, not the ad

The ad looks polished, the price is sharp and the site loads cleanly. None of that says anything about the shop behind it. The Dutch Fraud Helpdesk describes fake shops that use a web address containing the name of a real retailer, such as Dixons-dagdeals.com or bcc-acties.com, and copy the branding and logo (Fraudehelpdesk). The US Federal Trade Commission sees the same route through social media: a brand-name product at an unusually low price, and after the click a site designed to take your money for a counterfeit item or nothing at all (FTC, online shopping scam).

The check that helps is therefore not aimed at the ad but at the party behind it: does the business exist, does the domain fit, and how are you asked to pay?

Direct answer: five checks before you order

1. Search the seller outside the ad. Look up the company name and the full web address together with words like review, complaint or scam (FTC). A shop that has existed for more than a few days shows up in a search engine; one that launched yesterday usually does not (Fraudehelpdesk).
2. Read the domain like a phone number. Look at what sits to the left of the domain and at the extension. An address carrying a known brand name with a hyphen and an extra word behind it is a familiar pattern; check whois.com for where and when the domain was registered. A site registered very recently, and in another country, can be treated as suspect (Fraudehelpdesk).
3. Verify trust marks and registration at the source itself. If the page shows a trust mark, click it: you should land on the certificate of the organisation that issues it, and the shop should appear in that organisation's own member list rather than only on its own site (Fraudehelpdesk). A registration number on the page proves nothing by itself: criminals copy phone numbers and registration numbers too (Fraudehelpdesk).
4. Read the payment route, not the payment logo. Dutch shops are required to let customers pay at least 50 percent after delivery; if the site nowhere offers pay-later, that is a warning sign (Fraudehelpdesk). Paying by credit card gives extra protection because you can dispute the charge (Fraudehelpdesk). If the seller says you can only pay with a gift card, wire transfer, payment app or cryptocurrency, it is almost certainly a scam (FTC).
5. Check for reports, and remember what an empty result means. You can check a seller against reports on web address, bank account, email address or phone number; if the shop appears there, shop elsewhere (Fraudehelpdesk). But no report means no proof of safety either: the seller may simply not be known yet (Fraudehelpdesk).

Why an ad is not a shop

Scammers pose as real companies or invent a name that looks professional, and may even use the real logo (FTC, not what you ordered). The ad is then the only evidence that the shop exists, and that is precisely the weakest evidence available. When you order, keep the company name, the website, the confirmation and the date delivery was promised; sellers have to ship by the time they or their ads say they will, or give you the chance to get your money back (FTC).

What a detector does and does not see

The image detector measures whether a product photo carries patterns common in generated imagery. That is triage: it tells you which photo to inspect first. A strong warning does not prove the shop is fake — genuine product photos can pick up a signal from editing or compression — and a quiet result proves nothing about authenticity or delivery. To judge a single item rather than the shop itself, see how to spot AI product photos before buying.

What a shop cannot tell you

• whether the seller really exists and is authorised to sell, even with a registration number on the page;
• whether the product will actually be delivered, however neatly the site is built;
• whether a trust mark is genuine — you verify that with the issuing organisation, not on the shop's own site;
• whether fraud is involved; only a bank or an investigating authority can establish that.

If you have already paid

• Contact your bank the same day and ask about a block or recall while that is still possible; with a credit card you can dispute the charge (Fraudehelpdesk).
• Keep everything: the ad, the URL, the order confirmation, the payment details and the timestamp.
• Report it to the national fraud desk and, where there is loss, to the police; also file a complaint with the consumer authority (Fraudehelpdesk).
• Report the ad on the platform where you saw it: the same site often reappears under a different name.

More checks are in the guides on how to spot a fake payment proof, how to check an invoice for AI and how to spot AI-generated reviews. To check a file or photo on its own, use the free checker or one of the marketplace checkers.

Frequently asked questions

Is a shop with a trust mark automatically reliable?

No. Verify the mark with the organisation that issues it, through its own member list and never through the shop's page alone: an image on a page is just an image (Fraudehelpdesk).

I can only pay upfront. Is that a problem?

Not automatically, but it is the pattern that most often goes wrong. Shops are expected to allow at least partial payment after delivery; if that is nowhere possible and the price is unusually low, walk away (Fraudehelpdesk).

Does a high detector score prove the shop is fake?

No. The score describes patterns in an image or text and says nothing about the seller, ownership or delivery. Treat it as a reason to review the shop and the payment moment, never as proof.