Buying & selling online
How to Tell if a Website Is Legit: Red Flags and Free Checks
How to tell if a website is legit before you pay: red flags of a fake online store, free tools to check any site and the payment methods that protect you.
You can usually tell if a website is legit in a few minutes. The warning signs are prices far below every other store, a checkout that only takes wire transfers, gift cards, payment apps or crypto, missing contact details and a web address registered just weeks ago. Search the store's name and URL with words like "scam" or "complaint," check the domain's age, and pay by credit card so you can dispute the charge if nothing arrives.
Fake online stores often look polished. The FTC warns that scammers impersonate real companies and run ads for brand-name products at unusually low prices. Click one of those ads and you may land on a site built to take your money in exchange for a counterfeit, something that looks nothing like the picture, or nothing at all.
At TrustCamera we build a camera app that gives photos a check code at the moment they're taken, so we spend a lot of time on copied product photos and fake proof. This guide collects the red flags the FTC describes, adds the checks we'd run ourselves, shows free ways to check a site and links to our in-depth guides.
How to tell if a website is legit: the red flags at a glance
A real store holds up when you look behind the storefront. A fake one usually fails several checks at once: prices nobody else matches, a countdown pushing you to buy now, no street address or phone number, a brand-new domain and a checkout that suddenly accepts only payments you can't reverse. When two or more of these show up together, stop before you pay.
| Red flag | What you'll notice | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| Price too good | Brand-name items at a fraction of the usual price | Compare with retailers you know |
| Risky payment | Only wire, gift cards, payment apps or crypto at checkout | Click through to the last step before entering anything |
| No real contact | No street address, no phone, only a contact form | Look up the address on a map and call the number |
| Odd or new domain | Brand name plus "outlet" or "sale," strange endings, registered weeks ago | Check the registration date with ICANN Lookup |
| Reviews too perfect | Only five-star praise, similar wording, no complaints | Search the store's name plus "scam" or "complaint" |
| Copied photos | Product images that appear on other sites | Run a reverse image search |
| Pressure | Countdown timers, "only 2 left," sale ends tonight | Wait a day and check the store first |
The FTC's shopping advice, linked throughout this guide, covers the price, payment and review signs, while the domain, contact and photo checks are ones we'd add ourselves. One red flag alone doesn't prove a scam, since small legitimate stores can have a thin website. The exception is a seller that will only take gift cards, wire transfers, payment apps or cryptocurrency: according to the FTC, that's probably a scam. If you spot two or three of the other signs, don't order until you've run the checks below.
Too-good prices, countdown timers and social media ads
Price is the bait. Fake stores advertise the item everyone wants at a price no real retailer can match. We'd be more suspicious of a steep discount across the whole catalog than of a single clearance item. Compare the price with two or three retailers you already trust before you get attached to the deal.
Pressure is the second tool. Countdown timers, "only 2 left" banners and "sale ends tonight" messages are there to make you skip the checks. A store that needs you to decide in the next few minutes is, as we see it, giving you the best reason to wait. A legit sale rarely disappears while you spend a moment looking up the seller.
Social media ads deserve extra caution, because they take you straight from a scroll to a checkout. Before you buy, the FTC suggests searching online for the seller's name and the URL the ad sends you to, plus words like "review," "complaint" or "scam" to see what others say. If the ad shows a brand you know, go to the brand's website yourself instead of following the link.
Payment red flags: how a store wants to be paid
Many fake stores give themselves away at the checkout. The FTC's online shopping advice is to never buy from online sellers that insist you can only pay with gift cards, by wire transfers through companies like Western Union or MoneyGram, with a payment app, or with cryptocurrency. According to the same page, scammers often ask you to pay in a way that makes it hard to get your money back.
Watch the whole checkout, not just the logos in the footer. A store can show card and PayPal logos on its homepage and then offer only a bank transfer, Zelle or crypto at the last step. If the card option "fails" and you're asked to pay another way, stop there.
The same goes for a store that asks you to send money through PayPal as "friends and family." Those payments aren't covered by PayPal's Purchase Protection, which applies to goods-and-services payments. Our guide to the PayPal friends and family scam explains how that trick works.
Check the domain: lookalike addresses, domain age and the padlock
Read the web address before you read the deals. In our view, lookalike addresses deserve extra suspicion: a brand name with "outlet," "sale" or "official" added, swapped letters or an unusual ending. A real brand usually sells from its own main site or through retailers you already know. Links that arrive by text are riskier still, especially fake delivery notices, and our guide to the USPS text scam shows how those messages work.
Next, check how old the domain is. ICANN Lookup shows the public registration data for a domain name, including the date it was registered. According to ICANN, the lookup is a free public service, though personal data about the owner may be redacted for privacy. A store that claims decades in business on a domain registered last month doesn't add up.
The padlock doesn't settle it either. According to the FTC, https means the site is encrypted, but it doesn't mean the site is legitimate, because scammers know how to encrypt sites too. The FTC still says to make sure a site uses encryption before you enter payment details. So never type card numbers on a page without https, but don't treat the padlock as a seal of approval.
Contact details, return policy and reviews that don't add up
A legitimate store tells you who it is. Look for a street address, a phone number that someone answers and a clear return policy. Check the address on a map: if it leads to an empty lot or a completely different business, treat the store with suspicion. A contact form as the only way to reach the company is another weak spot.
Read the shipping and return terms before you order. The FTC's online shopping advice notes that sellers must ship when their ads say they will, and within 30 days after they get your name, address and payment if they don't promise a time. It also suggests checking whether restocking fees apply and how many days you have to return an item.
Reviews on the store's own site prove little, because the store controls them. The FTC advises reading reviews on a wide variety of review and retailer sites and not relying on star ratings alone, since some reviews and ratings are fake or misleading. Our guide on how to spot fake reviews shows the patterns that give paid and invented reviews away.
Copied product photos and brand names at bargain prices
Product photos cost scammers nothing, because they can copy them from any real store. A reverse image search shows where else a photo appears. That alone proves nothing, since legitimate resellers often use the manufacturer's photos. It gets suspicious when the same pictures turn up in marketplace listings, in other sellers' social media posts or on stores with different names.
Brand names at bargain prices carry a second risk. According to the FTC, expensive brand-name items offered at bargain prices could be counterfeit or stolen, so a fake store might ship a knockoff rather than nothing. Our guide on how to tell if something is counterfeit covers the signs and what the rules say about buying fakes.
Free tools to check if a website is legit
Several free tools help you tell if a website is legit in a few minutes. None of them gives a final verdict, so combine them with what you see on the site itself:
- A plain search: Search the store's name and web address with "review," "complaint" or "scam," as the FTC suggests. Look for reports from real buyers outside the store's own pages.
- Google's Site Status tool: Enter the address in the Safe Browsing site status check to see whether Google currently flags the site as unsafe.
- ICANN Lookup: See when the domain was registered, as described above.
- Reverse image search: Check whether the product photos belong to someone else.
Know the limits of each result. Google describes Safe Browsing as protection against web threats like malware, unwanted software and social engineering. In our view, that means a store that simply never ships your order may not be flagged, especially if it's new. Commercial "is this website legit" checkers can be a useful extra hint, but treat their scores as one signal among several, not a guarantee.
Pay with a credit card: which payment methods protect you
How you pay shapes your chances of a refund. The FTC recommends paying by credit card, because the law gives you the right to dispute charges. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you can dispute charges for goods you didn't receive or that weren't delivered as promised. The FTC explains that you need to dispute in writing, at the issuer's address for billing inquiries, so that your letter reaches the issuer within 60 days after the first bill with the charge was sent to you.
| Payment method | If nothing arrives | Our take |
|---|---|---|
| Credit card | You can dispute the charge with your card issuer | First choice with an unfamiliar store |
| PayPal (goods and services) | PayPal's Purchase Protection may apply under its rules | A reasonable option |
| Debit card | Report it to your bank right away and ask for a refund | Use with care |
| Payment apps and bank transfers | Hard to reverse once sent | Avoid with stores you don't know |
| Wire transfer, gift cards, crypto | Money is usually gone | A sign of a scam |
While the card issuer investigates a dispute, the FTC notes, you can withhold payment on the disputed amount. That's a strong reason to keep a credit card, not your bank account, between you and an unfamiliar store. Our guide to the safest way to pay on Facebook Marketplace compares PayPal, Venmo, Zelle and cards in more detail, and much of it applies to online stores too.
Fake online stores on marketplaces and social media
A fake online store doesn't always have its own website. Seller accounts on marketplaces and shops on social media can be fake too. In our view, the clearest warning sign there is a seller who wants to move you somewhere else to pay: an email, a chat app or a direct payment link. Once you pay outside the platform, you usually lose whatever buyer protection it offers.
The rule of thumb is the same everywhere: keep the conversation and the payment on the platform, and never pay a seller by wire, gift card, payment app or crypto because they ask you to. Our guide to Facebook Marketplace scams shows how this plays out between private buyers and sellers, where many of the same tricks show up.
Bought from a fake online store? What to do now
If you've already paid, act fast. The FTC's advice for people who paid a scammer is to contact the company you paid through immediately, whether that's your credit card issuer, your bank, a payment app or a wire transfer company. Report the payment and ask them to refund or reverse it. Then work through these steps:
- Save the evidence: screenshots of the store, the ad, your order confirmation, emails and the payment record.
- Report it to the FTC: file a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
- Report the ad or listing: tell the platform where you found the store, so it can review the ad.
- Protect your accounts: if you entered card details, ask your card issuer about a new card, and change any password you used on the site.
Don't pay anyone who later offers to recover your money for a fee. The FTC calls these refund and recovery scams and says anyone who asks for an upfront fee to get your money back is a scammer. Our guide on how to report a fake website explains where else to file and what to include in your report.
Frequently asked questions about fake online stores
How can you know if a website is legit?
To tell if a website is legit, check who runs it and how it wants to be paid. A legit store has a real address and phone number, reviews on independent sites, a domain that isn't brand-new and a checkout that accepts credit cards. If the prices are far below every other store and the checkout only takes wire transfers, gift cards, payment apps or crypto, walk away.
Can you check if a website is legit for free?
Yes. Search the store's name and web address with "scam," "complaint" or "review," as the FTC suggests. Then check the address with Google's Safe Browsing site status tool and look up the domain's registration date with ICANN Lookup. None of these tools is a guarantee, so combine them with a look at the contact details and payment options.
Is there a list of fake online stores?
We're not aware of an official, complete list from a US agency. Scam stores can reopen under new web addresses, so any list lags behind. The FTC's advice instead focuses on checking each seller yourself: search the name and URL for complaints, and never pay by gift card, wire transfer, payment app or crypto.
Does a padlock or https mean a website is safe?
No, not on its own. The padlock and https mean the connection is encrypted, so your data is protected on its way to the site. They don't tell you whether the business behind the site is real, and scam stores use https too. You should still never enter payment details on a page without it.
What is the safest way to pay on an unfamiliar website?
A credit card is usually the safest option, because the Fair Credit Billing Act lets you dispute charges for items you never received. PayPal goods-and-services payments can also offer protection under PayPal's rules. Be careful with debit cards, avoid bank transfers and payment apps with stores you don't know, and never pay by wire transfer, gift card or cryptocurrency.
Are online stores that advertise on social media legit?
Many are, but fake stores advertise there too. The FTC warns that scammers impersonate real companies and advertise brand-name products at unusually low prices. Before you buy, find out who the seller really is, search the name with "scam" or "complaint," and go to a brand's official site yourself instead of following the ad.
Conclusion: tell if a website is legit before you reach the checkout
Fake online stores rely on speed: a price that looks too good, a timer that says hurry and a checkout that only takes money you can't get back. A few minutes of checking beats most of them. Look up the address and phone number, check the domain's age, search the name for complaints and click through to the payment step before you enter anything.
Then pay with a credit card, so you keep the right to dispute the charge. If something still goes wrong, contact your card issuer or bank right away and report the store to the FTC. Knowing how to tell if a website is legit won't make you immune to every scam, but it takes away the easy wins scammers count on.
About the author
Co-founder & Marketing at TrustCamera
Yannick is a co-founder of TrustCamera and leads marketing and content. He holds a bachelor's and a master's degree in business and has worked in content marketing and SEO for years.
