Fake stores

These days you can buy almost anything online. The payment process is simple and a courier delivers your purchase straight to your door. Unfortunately, the latter is not always the case. The fact that online purchases are on the rise means that criminals are now using fake stores: fake online stores (webshops). They get your money and you get nothing in return.

What is a fake store?

Fake stores are online stores that are often only online for a short time and allow criminals to quickly make as much money as possible. They often create a copy of part of an existing online store, or the entire website in some cases. So it’s (almost) impossible to tell that it’s not the real online store.

If you buy something from the fake online store, you receive fake items or nothing at all. Criminals may also use your credit card details or other personal information. You filled in these details when you paid for your purchase.

Tip!
You may also be taken to a fake online store via social media. An appealing video on TikTok or Instagram persuades you to buy the product on the fake store. So always be on your guard.

How do you recognize and avoid visiting a fake online store?

A fake online store can be difficult to recognize. However, you can avoid buying something from it. Check out the following tips.

    First check if the URL is the same as the name of the website. If not, it could be a fake store. A URL is a website’s unique internet address.
    An example of a URL is https://www.rabobank.nl     Do you see https:// in the address bar along with a padlock or a green bar? If so, it’s more likely to be a secure online store. However, scammers can now easily add a padlock to a fake online store. Many websites of fake stores do not contain any contact details or a visiting address. An online store with spelling errors or text with badly constructed sentences could be a fake online store. With many fake stores you can’t buy anything without first creating an account and you can only pay using a credit card. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Such as a very low price.

What should you look out for when buying something online?

In the video we explain what to look out for when buying something online. Our tips will help you recognize and avoid being duped by this type of fraud. Watch this video or with subtitles on YouTube.

Purchase protection

If you bought something using your credit card, in many cases you are insured. However, the terms and conditions may differ. If you pay using iDEAL, your purchases are not insured.

Applying for a credit card

Report abuse

Do you have a question or think you are a victim of fraud? Please report it immediately.

Suspect an online store could be fake? You can check the website of the police (Dutch) to see if there have been any previous reports about the online store in question.

Further reading

Learn to recognize fraud

Secure business banking (Dutch)