How to Tell If a Website Is Safe to Buy From
Quick Answer
Online shopping fraud is one of the FTC's most consistently reported fraud categories. Fake online stores have become increasingly sophisticated, they use professional templates, display security badges, and in some cases accept payment and simply never ship anything.
Red Flags Before You Buy
Prices that seem too good to be true. Fake stores often list name-brand goods at 60 to 80 percent below retail. If a current iPhone, luxury handbag, or designer item is priced dramatically below every legitimate retailer, it is almost certainly counterfeit or the order will never arrive.
Recently registered domain. Scam sites are frequently created just before a selling season. Check the domain's age at whois.domaintools.com or a similar WHOIS lookup. A site that has existed for less than a year selling expensive goods warrants extra scrutiny.
No real contact information. Legitimate retailers have a physical address, a working phone number, and a responsive customer service email. Look for a Contact page and test it, send an email and see if anyone responds.
Policies copied verbatim from other sites. Fake stores often copy their privacy policy, return policy, or terms from legitimate retailers. Search a sentence from the policy in quotes, if it appears on multiple unrelated sites, it was copied.
No HTTPS. Check for "https://" and the padlock icon in the address bar. Absence of HTTPS on a checkout page means your payment information will be transmitted without encryption. However, note that the presence of HTTPS only means the connection is encrypted, it does not verify the site is legitimate.
Unusual payment methods only. Sites that only accept wire transfers, cryptocurrency, Zelle, or gift cards have no payment dispute mechanism. Legitimate retailers accept credit cards.
How to Check Before Buying
Search the domain plus "scam" or "review." Type the website domain into Google followed by "scam," "legit," or "review." Victims often post warnings quickly.
Check the Better Business Bureau. Search the company name at bbb.org. Look for complaint volume and how the company responded.
Search the address. Copy the physical address listed on the site and paste it into Google Maps. Many fake stores list addresses that are empty lots, private homes, or do not exist.
Look for social proof beyond the site. Legitimate businesses have customer reviews on Google, Trustpilot, or social media that exist independently of their own website. Fake stores may have glowing on-site reviews but nothing elsewhere.
Safe Payment Practices
Always pay with a credit card when shopping online from unfamiliar sites. Credit cards provide the strongest dispute rights under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you can dispute non-delivery or goods that do not match the description. Debit cards, wire transfers, Zelle, and gift cards offer little to no recourse.
Consider using a virtual card number (offered by many banks and credit card issuers) for one-time purchases from unfamiliar sites. This limits exposure if the merchant stores or misuses your card details.
What to Do If You Were Scammed by a Fake Site
- Dispute the charge with your credit card company immediately
- Report the site to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov
- Report to Google (safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_badware) and Microsoft (microsoft.com/reportascam) to get the site flagged in browsers
- Report to ICANN (icann.org) if the site is engaging in clear fraud, domain registrars can be notified to take action