A reputable online shop does not give itself away through a single feature, but through the interplay of many small details – from a complete imprint to genuine, verifiable reviews. The good news: the most important signals can be checked yourself in a few minutes, without any technical knowledge.
Fraudulent shops are professionally made these days. They copy logos, use real product photos and look flawless at first glance. That is precisely why gut feeling does not help, but a short checklist does. The following seven features are among the most reliable checkpoints – and largely match the recommendations of the consumer advice centre. The overall picture matters: a single point makes a shop neither safe nor untrustworthy, but the more warning signs come together, the greater the danger.
1. A complete imprint
Anyone running a commercial online shop in Germany is obliged to identify the provider. Since May 2024 this imprint requirement has been set out in Section 5 of the Digital Services Act (DDG), which took over the earlier rule from the Telemedia Act. Required are, among other things, the name and proper postal address of the operator, a quick electronic way to make contact including an email address, for registered companies the commercial register together with the register number, and – if available – the VAT identification number.
So check: is there an imprint at all, and is it easy to find? Does it list a real postal address instead of just a contact form? A missing, incomplete or foreign imprint on a supposedly German shop is a clear warning sign. Conversely: even an imprint that looks complete is no free pass, because fraudsters sometimes copy the data of real companies.
2. Encryption – but put in the right context
The padlock symbol in the address bar and the "https" indicate that the connection between your browser and the shop is encrypted. This protects your entries from being read by third parties. What it does not guarantee, however, is the honesty of the operator: such a certificate can be obtained free of charge and in minutes, including by criminals. The padlock is therefore a necessary basic requirement, but expressly not proof of authenticity. If encryption is missing altogether, you should not enter any payment data there.
3. The age of the domain
Established retailers have usually run their address for years. Many fake shops, by contrast, are only a few days or weeks old – they are set up, intensively promoted for a short time and shut down again after cashing in. A very recent registration date is no proof of fraud on its own, but combined with strikingly low prices it is a strong indication. Scepticism is also warranted with addresses that combine the name of a well-known brand with unusual endings.
4. Comprehensible payment methods
Perhaps the most important feature lies in the payment process. A typical fraud pattern: several payment methods are shown during the order, but in the final step only advance payment by bank transfer remains. A transfer once made can, as a rule, no longer be recalled after it reaches the recipient. Safer are procedures with a protection mechanism:
- Purchase on account. You only pay once the goods have been delivered and checked – the lowest-risk option for consumers.
- PayPal "Goods and Services". In the event of non-delivery or significantly different goods, buyer protection applies. Important: a problem must be reported within 180 days of payment, and it must be a purchase of goods or services – not the "send money to friends and family" option.
- Credit card with chargeback. In the event of fraud or non-delivery, a chargeback can be requested through the card-issuing bank.
The SEPA direct debit also offers a certain buffer: according to Section 675x of the German Civil Code (BGB), you can have an authorised direct debit reversed through your bank within eight weeks of the debit without giving reasons. If a shop only offers advance payment by bank transfer, that alone is not yet proof of fraud – but combined with other anomalies it is a serious warning sign.
5. Realistic prices
Significant discounts on sought-after branded goods are rarely a real bargain, but often bait. If a product costs 200 euros everywhere and suddenly only 70 euros in an unknown shop, you should become suspicious. Compare the price with several established providers. Strikingly low prices across the whole range are among the most common features of fake shops.
6. Genuine, verifiable reviews
Do not rely only on the star ratings the shop shows on its own page – these can be freely invented. Instead, search several independent platforms for the shop name and add terms such as "experience", "scam" or "not delivered" to your search. It is striking if there are hardly any external traces of a supposedly long-established shop, or if only flawless, very similar-sounding praise appears.
7. Genuine trust seals instead of decorative logos
Reputable trust seals from well-known providers are meant to build trust – and that is exactly what fraudsters exploit by simply embedding the logo as an image. The decisive test: click the seal. A genuine seal is linked and leads to a current, valid certificate in which the company name matches the imprint. A mere image links nowhere, or at best to its own homepage. If the link to the certificate is missing, it is very probably a worthless decorative element.
The interplay is what counts
No single feature proves fraud – but the more warning signs come together, the clearer the picture becomes.
With an unknown shop, consciously take the two minutes for these seven points before you pay. If you are in doubt, you do not have to go through all of this manually: Fakeshop AI checks exactly these signals – imprint, domain age, payment methods, seals and further indicators – automatically and delivers a comprehensible score, with a justification for every single signal. If an uneasy feeling remains in the end, the simplest of all rules applies: choose a payment method with protection or, when in doubt, buy elsewhere.
