Quick answer
Fake shops are found by price and closed by payment method. If the price is far below every competitor and the only way to pay is a bank transfer, a cryptocurrency or a "payment link", stop — a shop that will not accept a card with chargeback rights has something to hide.
The pages are built from a real shop's theme in an afternoon, with stock photos and invented reviews. What gives them away is not the design but the plumbing: a domain registered weeks ago, a checkout that refuses cards, and a support address that answers nothing.
The six checks
- Price against three competitors. A genuine discount ends somewhere; a price 60% below everywhere else is the bait.
- Domain age. A shop selling thousands of products on a domain registered last month is a campaign, not a business.
- Payment methods. Card payment brings chargeback rights. Transfer-only, crypto-only or "contact us for payment" removes them.
- Contact page. A phone number that nobody picks up, no company registration number, and a support address on a free mail provider rather than the shop's own domain.
- Terms and returns. Copied legal text mentioning another company's name, or delivery and refund rules that contradict each other.
- Reviews outside the site. Search the shop's name plus "scam" — real shops accumulate complaints on forums and social pages, fakes have none.
Why the price is the wrong thing to trust
Everything visible on a fake shop is designed to survive a quick look: the logo, the reviews, the "in stock" counter, the countdown. The price is the one number that cannot be faked in your favour — a fraud shop has no cost of goods, so it can undercut anyone and still profit from a single transfer.
If you already paid by transfer
- Call your bank immediately. A transfer can sometimes be recalled while the receiving account still holds the money — the window is hours, not days.
- File a police report. For a transfer there is no chargeback, so the criminal complaint is the document your bank and any insurance need.
- If you paid by card, request a chargeback and keep the order confirmation, the product page and the conversations.
- Watch the card afterwards even if the order was small: stolen card details are often tested with a small amount first.
Frequently asked questions
The questions this article gets asked most, answered directly.
The shop has a padlock and an address in my country. Is that enough?
No. A certificate is free and automatic, and a company address can be typed into a footer. Neither is verified by anyone. Domain age and the payment methods offered are the two things a fraud shop cannot fake cheaply.
Can I get my money back after a bank transfer?
Sometimes, if you call while the money is still in the receiving account. This is why the call to the bank is the first action, not the police report — the report matters, but it does not move as fast as a recall request.
Are the reviews on the site real?
Assume not. Review sections are text in the shop's own database and cost nothing to invent. Reviews on an independent platform, where the shop cannot delete them, are the only ones worth reading.
Written by The BaitScan editorial team
Results are automated risk estimates based on public indicators and heuristics.