Online and Account Scams

Online Shopping Scams

Fake shops, deceptive listings, and seller impersonation lead to missing, counterfeit, or misrepresented goods.

Understand the pattern

How this scam operates

A fake shop or deceptive marketplace listing attracts buyers with scarce stock, unusually low prices, or copied reviews. The seller may move the conversation away from the platform and request a payment method without buyer protection. The goods may never arrive, may be counterfeit, or may be very different from the listing.

Details can vary, but the goal is usually to create enough trust, fear, or urgency that you act before verifying the story. Caller ID, profile names, logos, and polished websites can all be copied.

A useful ruleEnd the original contact. Then find the organization or person independently and ask whether the claim is genuine.

What the scammer wants

Money, payment details, personal information, or an action that removes normal payment protections.

Common tactics

Unexpected contact, urgency, copied identities or websites, unusual payment methods, and resistance to independent checks.

Recognize the pressure

Warning signs to look for

Caution

Payment outside the platform

A seller asks you to leave a marketplace or abandon its buyer protections.

Caution

Look-alike contact details

The sender address, domain, profile, or phone number resembles but does not match an official one.

High risk

Manufactured urgency

You are pressured to act before you can stop, verify, or ask someone you trust.

Take back control

What to do next

Take protective action even if you are not yet certain this is a scam.

  1. prevention

    Use buyer protection

    Verify the seller independently and use a payment method with meaningful buyer protection.

  2. Immediate response

    Preserve evidence and secure access

    Save messages, receipts, account names, URLs, and transaction details. If credentials were exposed, change them from a trusted device and review active sessions.

How to protect yourself

Pause unexpected requests involving money, codes, documents, or account access. Leave the original conversation and verify the claim using an official app, a known website, or a number from a statement or card. Do not rely on caller ID, profile names, or links supplied by the sender.

If you were affected

Stop contact and further payments. Contact the bank, payment service, marketplace, or platform through its official channel. Secure exposed accounts from a trusted device, preserve messages and transaction records, and report through the appropriate official service. Watch for follow-up recovery scams.

Open the recovery checklist
Verified destinations

Official help and reporting

Choose the service for your location. External links open the organization’s official website.

United States

ReportFraud.ftc.gov

Federal Trade Commission

Official United States service for reporting fraud, scams, and bad business practices.

Visit official site
United Kingdom

Action Fraud

City of London Police

The United Kingdom’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.

Phone: 0300 123 2040

Visit official site
Canada

Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Ontario Provincial Police, and Competition Bureau Canada

Canada’s central service for information about fraud and for reporting fraud and cybercrime.

Phone: 1-888-495-8501

Visit official site
Australia

Scamwatch

National Anti-Scam Centre

Australian government information and reporting guidance about scams.

Visit official site