- Around 90% of consumers are taking precautions against shopping fraud
- Nevertheless, approximately 30% of those surveyed have already fallen victim to fake shops
- eco provides 8 tips to expose fake shops
As Christmas approaches, people often realise that something is missing from their gift list – whether it’s a small item for a sister-in-law or a Secret Santa present for the office. But who has the time and inclination to wander around crowded city centres in the rain to look for gifts? In this situation, online shopping offers a convenient alternative: the bargains are enticing and with just a few clicks, the list can be taken care of.
Too good to be true?
But be careful: not everything labelled as a “shop” actually has something for sale. Fake shops are increasingly spreading across the Internet and are luring customers with unbeatable offers. Consumers often only grow suspicious after the ordered goods fail to arrive. When they try to contact the seller, they receive no response and the money seems to be irretrievably lost. And the problem is widespread. A recent Civey survey* commissioned by eco – Association of the Internet Industry highlights the extent of the problem: 30% of those surveyed have fallen victim to a fake shop at some point. This is despite the fact that over 90% are already taking precautions to protect themselves. The respondents mostly rely on common methods such as checking the legal notice (56.1%) or use payment methods such as invoice or cash on delivery (42.8%). Many shoppers (38.1%) also look for customer reviews – but beware: exclusively positive ratings should make consumers wary, because they indicate that manipulation may also have occurred in this case.
“Especially during the stressful pre-Christmas period, many people tend to be quick to buy supposed bargains online – and that’s exactly what fraudsters take advantage of,” warns eco Security Expert Oliver Dehning. “Fake shops often look deceptively genuine and deliberately use psychological tactics, such as exceptionally low prices or limited availability. But anyone who is attentive and knows the warning signs can effectively protect themselves and shop with peace of mind.”
eco Association provides tips for secure online shopping
In order to protect consumers from such fraudulent schemes, eco – Association of the Internet Industry has put together eight helpful tips for safe Christmas shopping. These tips show what to look out for when shopping online in order to identify fake shops early on and to avoid losing money.
- Unencrypted data transmission: Check whether a shop uses encrypted transmission by the lock symbol and the https URL in the browser.
- If the shop only offers prepayment as a payment option, this is a red flag.
- The Internet address may resemble a well-known reputable shop, but with a different domain ending. For instance, instead of “quelle.de”, the address might be “quelle.org”.
- Incomplete legal notice, no information on cancellation or shipping costs.
- The customer reviews are consistently positive.
- The general terms and conditions may be either absent or written in poor German.
- Quality seals are not linked to the issuing body of the seal.
- On other websites, experience reports and reviews from other customers warn about the fake shop.
Here are the survey results:
*The market and opinion research institute Civey surveyed 2501 German citizens on behalf of the eco – Association of the Internet Industry between 11 December 2024 and 12 December 2024. The survey is representative of the population, with a statistical error of 3.6%.
