How common are fake online stores?
Fake shops are the scam people report most often. In the BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report for 2025, online purchase scams made up 28.4% of all published reports, the largest share of any type, and 89.3% of the people who reported one lost money. The FTC also listed online shopping as the second most reported fraud category in its 2024 Consumer Sentinel data.
The pattern is stable: an ad on social media, a well-known product at a large discount, a shop built on a template, and either nothing delivered or a cheap item that does not match the photos.
Signs of a fake online store you can check in five minutes
- 01The domain. Read the address in the browser bar, not the shop’s name on the page. Shops that sell one brand on a domain such as brand-outlet-sale.shop are rarely that brand.
- 02The domain’s age. A shop that claims ten years of history on a domain registered last month is not telling the truth. A lookup service shows the registration date; our report shows it with the source.
- 03The legal notice and contact page. Look for a company name, a registration number and a street address. Then check that the company exists and is active in its country’s register.
- 04The returns policy. Copied policies often name another shop, another country or a returns address abroad that you would pay to ship to.
- 05The payment page. Cards and payment services with buyer protection can be disputed. A shop that pushes bank transfer, crypto or gift cards at checkout is asking you to give that up.
- 06The photos. Product photos stolen from the brand show up in a reverse image search; AI-generated ones often show warped labels or details that change between angles.
Business Check · Free preview
Paste the shop’s address: domain age, company registry, legal notice, Google Safe Browsing and web reputation, each with its source.
Is Temu, Shein, AliExpress or Wayfair legit?
These are some of the most searched “is it legit” questions about shopping, and they are about large, identified companies. Wayfair, for example, is Wayfair Inc., listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker W. A Business Check of the official domain finds that kind of record: the Wikidata entry of the organisation, its country, its listing and its leaders.
For big platforms, the useful questions are narrower:
- Am I on the real site? Copies of large shops use look-alike domains and the same logo. Open the brand’s app or type its address yourself instead of following an ad.
- Who is the seller? On a marketplace, many items come from third-party sellers. The platform’s buyer protection and refund window apply only if you pay through the platform’s own checkout.
- What does the refund policy say today? Windows and conditions change; read them on the platform’s own help pages before you order, not on a blog.
- What do people complain about? Large shops always have complaints online. Our report shows them as information for widely used sites, not as a warning, unless a regulator is involved.
Our trust reports publish the dated Business Check of popular sites as they are reviewed.
What the Business Check shows for an online store
| Signal | Reassuring | Worth a closer look |
|---|---|---|
| Domain age (RDAP) | Registered more than 3 years ago | Registered less than 6 months ago |
| Legal notice | Company, identifier and address on the site | No company named, or one that does not match a register |
| Registry | Active company that matches the site | Closed company, or a namesake with no link to the site |
| Known organisation | Official website on a Wikidata entry with a Wikipedia page | None, for a shop that claims to be a large brand |
| Google Safe Browsing | Not listed | Listed for malware or phishing: the score is capped at 44 |
| Reputation | Reviews and press | Repeated complaints of non-delivery from several sources |
Any free account can run a Business Check (3 credits, out of 10 free credits a month) and see how many checks ran and how many warning signs came up. The full report, with the score, the company, the people and every source, is on the Business plan ($49 a month), with a manual review by our team within 48 hours when the AI cannot confirm everything.
What a check cannot tell you about a shop
- Whether this particular order will arrive. A legit shop can still ship late or sell a poor product.
- Anything behind the checkout: we never add to cart, log in or pay.
- Whether a site copies a famous brand: we do not compare names. A copy simply lacks the brand’s record (no Wikidata link, young domain, no registry match).
If a shop’s photos and texts look mass-produced, the AI website checker shows how much of the site is AI-generated. If you already paid, call your card issuer first, then report the shop at ReportFraud.ftc.gov in the US.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if an online store is fake?
Check four things: the domain’s age, the company named in the legal notice and whether a register confirms it, the payment methods offered, and the returns address. A fake store usually fails two or more of them. The Business Check runs these checks and links each source.
Is a store with no legal notice a scam?
Not necessarily. A legal notice is mandatory in the EU, the UK and Switzerland, so its absence there is a warning sign. Elsewhere, including the US, many honest shops have none; the report shows it as information, not as a penalty.
Can you tell me if Temu or Shein is legit?
Both are large, identified companies, and a Business Check of their official domain shows it. The risks with large platforms are fake copies of their sites and individual sellers, so check that you are on the official address and that you pay through the platform’s checkout.
What should I do if I bought from a fake online store?
Contact your bank or card issuer as soon as possible to dispute the payment, keep the order confirmation and screenshots, and report the shop to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov (US) or to your national fraud reporting service.