Online shopping is convenient, and so is online fraud. Fake shops take your money and send nothing. Fake coupon pages lure you with big discounts and lead to ads, surveys or tracking. This guide gives you a plain checklist of warning signs and some safe habits. No list catches every scam, so when something feels wrong, stop and check before you pay.

Warning signs of a fake shop

Prices that are far too low

A new phone or a famous brand of trainers at half the normal price is the most common bait. A real discount exists, but a gap this size with no clear reason, such as a sale event or last-season stock, deserves doubt. Compare with a few established shops.

A young or odd website

Look at the address. Is it the shop's usual domain, or one with extra words, odd endings or a slightly changed spelling? Fake shops often use addresses that look similar to real ones. A search for the shop name together with the word "reviews" can show whether other buyers have had trouble. Do not rely on review stars on the shop's own site.

Missing or vague company details

A real shop shows a company name, a postal address, an email and often a phone number, plus terms and a privacy policy. If the imprint is missing, copied from another site or has an address that does not exist, that is a bad sign. Paste the address into a map and see what is there.

Strange payment options

If the shop only accepts bank transfers, cryptocurrency or gift cards, be cautious. Established shops offer cards or wallets, which come with dispute options. Insistence on a payment that cannot be reversed is typical for fraud.

Pressure and countdown timers

Countdowns that restart on reload, claims that only a couple of items are left and pop-ups that show other people buying are meant to make you hurry. Take your time.

Warning signs of a fake coupon site

Coupon pages are a common place for misleading content, since many people search for codes right before buying. Be careful when a page promises discounts of an unrealistic size, asks you to complete a survey or install something before showing a code, shows a code only after several redirects, or lists the same code for dozens of shops. A page that makes you click through several adverts to see a code is earning from the clicks, not helping you.

Also be careful with codes that claim to be "exclusive" without a source, and with sites that copy offers from others without a date. A trustworthy page tells you when it last checked and what the conditions are. We do this on our shop pages: offers carry the time of the last check, and the conditions are stated. We do not claim to test codes ourselves, because a code can stop working at any time, so the shop's cart is the final test.

Fake cashback and browser add-ons

Some browser extensions promise rewards or codes and then replace the tracking click, which can cost you the cashback you would have earned. Install extensions only from the official store of your browser, read what permissions they ask for and remove those you do not use. Our guide on browser settings, cookies and ad blockers explains how such tools interfere.

A quick checklist before you pay

• Check the domain letter by letter.
• Read the imprint, terms and return policy.
• Search for independent opinions of the shop.
• Prefer payment methods with dispute rights.
• Do not enter card details on a page reached through a message or ad you did not ask for.
• If a deal is too good, compare it with a trusted shop.

If you already paid a fake shop

Act quickly. Contact your card issuer or payment service and explain what happened, as many offer a process for disputes within a set time. Change passwords you reused on the site, watch your statements and report the shop to your national consumer or cybercrime authority. Keep screenshots and emails. Outcomes depend on your payment method and country, and this text is not legal advice.

Small details that give fakes away

Look at the language on the site. Many fake shops use clumsy translations, mixed currencies or images with stolen watermarks. Check the social links, since fakes often link to empty profiles or none at all. Look at the shop's policy pages too. If the return policy is copied word for word from another well-known shop, including its name in some places, the site is not what it claims to be. None of these signs proves fraud alone, but several together are a clear reason to leave.

How we help

Every shop on our site is a shop where cashback tracking exists through a recognised affiliate network, and we check shop information and offers daily. We cannot guarantee any shop's behaviour, so use your own judgement too. You can see how our service works in how cashback works step by step. The account is free and payout starts from 20 USD by PayPal.