Before you buy from a store you have never used, it pays to check. This guide walks through the warning signs of a fake or unsafe website and how to verify one yourself, and lets you run any site through our free safety check in seconds.
Paste an address and we will run a free safety check: encryption, malware and phishing, domain age and more.
No single sign is proof on its own, but the more of these you notice, the more careful you should be.
Deep discounts on popular or luxury items are the classic bait. If the price is far below everywhere else, be suspicious.
Scam stores are set up and abandoned quickly. A site registered days or weeks ago selling a full catalogue is a warning sign.
If there is no padlock or https when you reach the payment page, do not enter any details. Your information would not be protected.
A legitimate business has a physical address, a way to reach support, and clear returns and privacy policies. Vague or missing details are a red flag.
Constant countdown timers, "only 2 left" on every product, and high-pressure popups are designed to stop you thinking.
Requests to pay by bank transfer, cryptocurrency or gift cards are a major warning sign, because those payments are almost impossible to reverse.
Sloppy grammar, mismatched branding and generic stock imagery often point to a site thrown together quickly.
Check for reviews on independent sites. A store with glowing on-site reviews but no footprint anywhere else deserves caution.
Look for https and a padlock in the address bar, especially on the payment page. If it is missing, do not enter any details. Remember though, a padlock only means the connection is private, not that the business is honest.
Fraudulent stores are usually brand new. A site that has existed for years is more likely to be genuine. Our free check reads the domain registration date for you.
Search the store name plus the word "scam" or "review". Trust reviews on independent platforms over glowing testimonials on the site itself.
Look for a physical address, a working contact method, and clear returns and privacy policies. A legitimate business is easy to reach and easy to identify.
Pay with a credit card or a trusted service like PayPal, which let you dispute a charge. Never pay a stranger by bank transfer, cryptocurrency or gift cards.
Our free website safety check runs the technical signals in seconds: whether the site is flagged for malware or phishing, whether your connection is properly encrypted, how old the domain is, and more. You get a clear verdict, trust this site, be careful, or do not trust it, with the reasons why. It is the same verification engine behind the TrustedOrigin badge.
Run a free safety checkLook at several signals together, no single one is proof. Check that the address starts with https and shows a padlock, look up how long the domain has existed, read independent reviews away from the site itself, and make sure there is a real contact address and a clear returns and privacy policy. Our free check runs the technical parts of this for you in seconds.
No. The padlock only means your connection to the site is encrypted, not that the business behind it is honest. Scammers can and do get valid certificates for free. HTTPS is necessary but not sufficient. If a site does not have it, that is a serious red flag, but having it does not make a site trustworthy on its own.
Only if you are confident the site is legitimate. At a minimum the connection must be encrypted (https), the site should be established rather than days old, and it should have real contact details and policies. If anything feels off, pay with a method that offers protection, such as a credit card or PayPal, never by bank transfer, cryptocurrency or gift cards.
A domain that was registered very recently is a common sign of a scam store, because fraudulent sites are set up and taken down quickly. Our free safety check reads the domain registration date for you and flags brand-new domains automatically.
Contact your bank or card provider immediately and ask about a chargeback, the sooner the better. Change any passwords you reused on that site. Keep all receipts and emails. Then report the site to your national consumer-protection or fraud authority so others can be warned.
Free, anonymous, and no signup. Know before you buy.