If a shop has products in stock that are otherwise difficult to obtain or offers goods at particularly attractive prices, this can be a lucky find. Fake shops that want to lure customers with their offers can also hide behind them. The Hamburg consumer advice center shows in a current list which shops customers should avoid.
Online shopping is very trendy. Loud extra In 2022, sales in the commerce sector amounted to 84.5 billion euros in Germany alone. At the same time, however, the dangers are growing. Fraudsters are targeting customers’ data, but also their money, and are constantly adapting their scams. This also includes fake shops on the Internet, some of which are difficult to distinguish from reputable platforms. Those who shop here not only give their data into the hands of scammers, buyers often also lose a lot of money without ever seeing the ordered goods. Experts from different areas have therefore been warning of fake online shops for years. The Hamburg consumer advice center has created a regularly updated list of fake shops from a wide variety of areas. TECHBOOK also gives tips on how to recognize and protect yourself from fake shops on the Internet.
Fake shop list from the consumer center
The number of fake shops on the Internet is huge. It is therefore almost impossible to record all of them. The list that the Hamburg consumer advice center has drawn up is also extremely extensive and is regularly expanded. The experts have therefore arranged them alphabetically to make it easier to search for individual shops.
Here is the list of fake shops.
Hundreds of entries are listed here, many of them with names that sound sensible at first glance and a specialization in certain product areas such as bicycles, sports, home and garden, technology or cosmetics. If you come across a shop that raises questions, you should check the list to see if it is listed. The list of the Hamburg consumer advice center supplements the list Internet watch listwhere numerous fake shops are also exposed.
How to recognize fake shops on the Internet
Many people think that fake shops on the internet are easy to spot. However, this is often no longer the case. Because the developers behind the fake platforms are smart and program websites that sometimes look very serious. But with a little common sense and, above all, patience when shopping, even laypeople can recognize signs that expose a dubious shop. It is always better to be safe than sorry in this case. Therefore, listen to your gut feeling and before you buy, check who you are actually ordering from.
Check internet address
The first tip for unmasking a fake shop on the Internet is its Internet address. Take a good look at these in the browser. If there are questionable domain endings such as “.de.com” where only “.de” should actually be, this can be an indication of a fake shop. Even if the address does not match the content of the page at all or has a name that is not at all comprehensible, skepticism is appropriate. You should also be careful with shops that do not have “https” in the address line. Because an online shop should always offer the purchase process in encrypted form.
Far too cheap products
Fake shops do not necessarily have to be extremely cheap. But if a price is actually too good to be true, it probably isn’t. Caution is also called for when trendy products are suddenly available here, although other shops do not have them in stock. Consumers should not be blinded by the design of the pages: it is often very or at least approximately professional.
Also read: What time of day prices are highest when shopping online
Check the terms and conditions!
An online shop should display the General Terms and Conditions (GTC) in a way that is easy to find on the website and also make its data protection provisions accessible there. If there are no general terms and conditions on the site, you should not even order, advise consumer advocates. However, this also applies if the terms and conditions are obviously fictitious, copied together or come in bad German from a translation program.
Missing or incomplete imprint
If there is little or no information about the availability of the shop operator and if an imprint is not available or incomplete, these are bad signs. Because the corporate identity must be clearly visible. For this purpose, the postal address, an authorized representative and an e-mail address as well as a reference to the company registration number stand. The latter can be under www.handelsregister.de check without the addition “HRB”.
Strange or false seals of approval
Many fake shops on the Internet like to use seals to show their seriousness and trustworthiness. But don’t let that fool you and take a closer look. In principle, users can use seals of approval such as Safe shopping and Trusted Shops trust, according to the consumer center. The Internet addresses of the shops can also be entered on their websites and thus checked whether the seal has actually been awarded. Alternatively, customers can click directly on the seals integrated in the shop, because these must be linked. If they do not forward you to the certification page when you click, something is wrong.
Payment in advance only
Superficially, the fake shops often offer many payment options. In the last order step, however, all that remains is prepayment, for example in the form of a bank transfer. Then you should cancel the purchase immediately, the experts recommend. The safest way is to pay by invoice or direct debit. With direct debit, for example, you can get your money back up to eight weeks after moving in.
Users should also pay attention to the buy button, which must be labeled “Order with an obligation to pay”, “Buy now” or “Book with an obligation to pay”. If, on the other hand, it only says “Login” or “Order”, caution is advised.
Wrong reviews
Relying solely on customer ratings within a shop is dangerous – especially when they are almost exclusively very good or praise is piling up. It can often be more helpful to feed search engines with the name of the shop in order to find experiences or warnings from other customers.
Fallen for a fake shop? This is to do
Anyone who, despite all caution, has fallen for a fake shop on the Internet and made a purchase there will usually not achieve much in the shop itself. Because the operators do not offer any customer support and do not respond to inquiries. why? After all, they got what they wanted: the customers’ data and money. Those affected should therefore immediately ask their bank to reverse the payment, advise consumer advocates. This is often still possible a few hours after an online order. All receipts should also be backed up. This includes the purchase contract, order confirmation, e-mails, a screenshot of the offer and – if available – the imprint as well as bank details and the e-mail address used by the perpetrators. The Internet address of the shop must also be noted.
With these documents, criminal charges should be filed with any police station or online with the Internet watch of the respective federal state – even if the order was made a long time ago.