Fake Online Shop: How It Works and How to Recover
Fraudulent webshops that take card payment and never deliver, or send counterfeits. Also known as e-commerce scam, non-delivery fraud.
Free case assessmentHow the fraud works
Fraudulent webshops advertise sought-after goods at attractive prices, take card payment, and then never deliver, send counterfeits, or vanish. They often use copied branding, fake reviews and short-lived domains.
Warning signs
- Prices far below the market
- No verifiable company details or address
- Only unusual payment methods offered
- Reviews that all read the same
- A brand-new or copied-looking website
Evidence to preserve
If you have been affected, gather:
- The order confirmation and website URL
- Your card payment record
- Any tracking or delivery claims made
- Communications with the 'seller'
- Screenshots of the listing
How victims recover funds
The primary recovery route is card chargeback (visa / mastercard). A chargeback reverses a card payment by raising a dispute through the Visa or Mastercard scheme via your issuing bank, which claws the funds back from the merchant's acquirer under defined dispute reason codes.
Card payment for undelivered goods is a textbook chargeback under scheme rules; gather the order evidence and act within the dispute window.
Fake Online Shop recovery by country
Select your country for the local regulator, ombudsman and recovery routes: