Everyday life online
Spotting a fake online shop
What you will be able to do In 8 minutes, you'll know how to investigate an online shop before ordering, and recognize the one that doesn't exist.
A fake shop looks like a real one. The photos are polished, the prices slashed, and a countdown pressures you to order. Behind it, there's often no company at all: no address, no name, no one to write to afterward. The good news is that an online shop is required to say who it is. This information is called the legal notice: the company's name, its address, its registration number. When it's missing, the shop gives itself away. We'll investigate a shop together, page by page, before any payment, on a screen we designed. Nothing here is real, so nothing can happen to you.
Simulated screen
I practice
This screen was drawn by us. Nothing is sent, nothing is installed, and no real brand is shown.
The situationYou're looking for a gift, and an unknown shop shows the same item at a third of the price found elsewhere.
The interactive exercise needs JavaScript. The written step by step, just below, says exactly the same thing.
The written step by step
The same steps, in words, to read or print. This sheet works even without the exercise.
The price that doesn't add up
Your turn Tap what, on this page, should stop you before you even look at the rest.
The price is the first signal: $299 for a set sold at $1,200 elsewhere. We stop there, and check everything else before ordering.
The countdown that starts over
Your turn You reloaded the page two minutes later. Tap what proves the shop is telling you a story.
The countdown still shows 04:58, and the stock still shows two items, two minutes later. A real countdown would have moved: this one resets for every visitor.
What the shop refuses to say
Your turn On this page, tap what proves the shop is hiding who it is.
The page gives no company name, no address, no registration number. These three pieces of information are required: their absence alone is enough to walk away.
Reviews too good to be true
Your turn Look at the shop's reviews, and tap the one that gives away a fabrication.
All 214 reviews carry five stars and the same publishing date. Real reviews spread out over time, and they don't all sound alike.
The word added to a known name
Your turn Compare with the name you know, then tap the piece that was added.
The site's name runs up to the first forward slash: garden-corner-official-sale.example. The words "official-sale" were added, and they change everything.
The check that settles it
Your turn Tap what will actually tell you about this shop, in a few seconds.
We type the shop's name into a search engine, followed by the word scam, and read what other buyers have experienced. It's the fastest check there is.
The sheet to keep
- A price far below what it costs everywhere else is the first signal, never a good deal.
- A countdown that resets to the same number on every visit is a set piece, not an offer that's ending.
- An online shop must say who it is: company name, address, registration number, mediator in case of a dispute. Without this legal notice, buy elsewhere.
- Reviews that are all perfect, all posted the same day, are manufactured. The law requires saying how reviews are verified: when nothing says so, be wary.
- In an address, a word added to a known name gives an entirely different site. The name that matters stops at the first forward slash.
- A shop that only accepts bank transfer, check, or gift card codes leaves no recourse: walk away.
- The shop's name typed into a search engine, followed by the word scam, often tells you what you need within seconds.
- In France, a suspicious shop can be reported for free to the fraud control authority on signal.conso.gouv.fr.
The reflexes in this skill
I stop before I click
Urgency is the sign of a trap. A message that counts down the hours is trying to stop you from thinking. Putting your phone down for two minutes costs nothing, and it is almost always enough.
No one serious ever rushes me
No threats, no countdown, no secret to keep. And asking for help is a reflex, not a failure: saying it out loud to someone makes most scams fall apart.
The padlock is not enough: I read the address
The little padlock icon means the connection is encrypted, not that the site is honest. A scam site has one too. The name of the site sits just before the first forward slash: that is where to look.
I go through the official door
The address typed in by hand, the app installed from the official store, the phone number printed on the back of your card. Never the link someone hands you, even when it looks right.
Two questions to check
Nothing is graded, and nothing is saved anywhere except in your own browser.
An unknown shop shows prices three times cheaper than elsewhere and a countdown. What's the first reflex?
See the answer
Look for the company's identity in the legal notice
The countdown is there to stop you from checking. The legal notice, on the other hand, is required: the company's name, its address, and its registration number tell you whether there's really someone behind the shop.
On a shop's "Legal notice" page, what should make you give up on the purchase?
See the answer
No company name, no address, no registration number
These three pieces of information are required for a shopping site. When they're missing, there's no one to complain to if something goes wrong, and consumer protection authorities advise buying from another site.
I've done it
Check this box once you can do this skill on your own.
Your progress stays in your own browser.