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QUICK CHECK

Is this website legit? How to check before you pay

Not sure about a shop? Don't pay yet. The checks below take a few minutes. If a site fails even one of the first three, close the tab and buy somewhere you know. If you've already paid, skip to What if I've already paid? below. Fake shops are built to look real, and the padlock in the address bar only means the connection is encrypted, not that the shop is honest.

01

Which three checks matter most?

  1. How does it want you to pay? If the only options are a gift card, wire transfer, payment app or cryptocurrency, the FTC says "it's probably a scam".
  2. What do other people say? Search the shop's name and its web address together with "review", "complaint" or "scam", as the FTC advises.
  3. Is the price too good to be true? Scammers "impersonate real companies and run ads for brand-name products at unusually low prices", then sell counterfeits or nothing at all.
02

Four more checks

  1. Read the web address letter by letter. Fake shops often copy a real brand's name with a small change: an extra word, a swapped letter, or a different ending such as .shop or .store instead of the address you know. If you came from an ad or a social media post, type the brand's address yourself instead.
  2. Don't trust the padlock on its own. The "s" in https means the connection is encrypted. The FTC points out that this doesn't make a site legitimate, because scammers can encrypt sites too.
  3. Don't trust the stars on the site. Reviews on the shop's own pages can be copied or invented. The FTC advises reading reviews "from a wide variety of review and retailer sites".
  4. Look for a real way to reach them. A street address, a phone number and a returns policy you can actually read. A shop that only offers a contact form or a chat window gives you nowhere to go if the order never comes.
03

How should I pay?

  • Credit card, if you have one. In the US, you can dispute the charge if you are billed for something you never got, or get the wrong or a defective item. In the UK, the National Cyber Security Centre says many credit cards protect online purchases under the Consumer Credit Act.
  • Not by bank transfer. The NCSC's advice for the UK is to "never pay by direct bank transfer" when shopping online. A transfer to a stranger is very hard to get back.
  • Keep the receipt and the order confirmation. The FTC says they can help you get your money back from the seller.
04

Why does this matter?

Paying for something that never arrives is the most common way people are tricked into sending money in the UK. Purchase scams made up 71% of all authorised push payment fraud cases in 2025, with £118.1 million GBP lost, according to UK Finance. That works out at around £670 GBP per case. A loss that size can feel too small to report. Report it anyway: the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, for example, has the power to investigate and remove scam websites.

05

What if I've already paid?

It's not your fault. Fake shops are built to look real.

  1. Call your card issuer or bank now. Use the number on the back of your card. Tell them you paid a website you now think is fake, and ask about a chargeback or dispute. In the US, contact the card issuer within 60 days of the first bill that shows the problem.
  2. If you paid with a payment app or PayPal, report it in the app and ask them to reverse the payment.
  3. Keep everything: the web address, screenshots of the product page, emails and the receipt.
  4. Report the website. In the UK, report it to the NCSC's scam website service. In the US, report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Other countries: Where do I report a scam?
  5. If you typed in your card details on the site, ask your bank to cancel the card. The NCSC's advice: "let your bank know straight away so they can block anyone using it".

What if the shop is real but the order is just late? In the US, a seller has to ship by the time it promised, or within 30 days if it didn't promise a time, or give you the chance to get your money back.

Related situations

Sources

This page was last reviewed: November 2, 2026.
Drafted with AI assistance. Every figure and link on this page was checked against the official source cited for it. Not yet reviewed by a human editor.