Holiday Shopping Scams: 6 Checks Before You Enter Your Card

Holiday sales bring fake stores that copy real ones. They steal photos and logos, post a tempting price and take your payment. Six checks, done before you type your card number, stop most of them.

Key takeaways

• A price far below normal, on something usually expensive, is a warning sign.
• Pay by credit card. Walk away if the only options are a gift card, wire transfer, payment app or cryptocurrency.
• This is about fake stores and payments. For doctored reviews, see our guide on spotting fake reviews.

How the trap usually works

The pattern is simple, which is why it keeps working:

• An ad, often on social media, shows a brand name product at an unusually low price.
• The link leads to a site that copies a real store's photos and logos.
• You pay, and you receive a counterfeit item, something that does not match the listing, or nothing at all.

Every check below breaks one link in that chain.

Six checks to run

1. Treat a price that is far too low as a warning. The FTC says unusually low prices are a sign of a scam. Be most careful with ads for a usually expensive item at a very low price.

2. Be wary of ads that find you, especially on social media. Scammers impersonate real companies. Type the retailer's web address yourself instead of clicking the ad.

3. Search the seller before you search the product. Search the seller's name and web address together with words like "review," "complaint" or "scam" and see what other buyers say.

4. Read the terms before you pay. Look at the full price with extra charges, the return policy, who pays for return shipping and any restocking fee. A store with no clear policy is a reason to leave.

5. Pay by credit card. A credit card lets you dispute a charge if you get something other than what you ordered, or nothing at all. If a seller says you can only pay with a gift card, wire transfer, payment app or cryptocurrency, it is probably a scam.

6. Keep the evidence. Save the receipt, the order confirmation number and a screenshot of the listing with the promised delivery date. A seller must ship by the time it says, or give you the chance to get your money back.

A stop rule

If a deal trips check 1 and the seller then asks for a payment method from check 5, stop. Close the page. No discount is worth that combination.

If you already paid

Act the same day:

1. Contact your card company and dispute the charge. Give them the receipt, the order number and the screenshots you saved.
2. Watch your statements for other charges from the same seller.
3. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Reports help the FTC spot patterns.
4. Do not send more money. Ignore any follow up message that asks for another payment, or a gift card, to "release" the order. The FTC says anyone who demands payment by gift card is a scammer.

Also read our notes on holiday return policies before you buy gifts.

Your checklist for this week

• ☐ Type the store's address yourself instead of clicking an ad.
• ☐ Search the seller's name with "scam" and "complaint."
• ☐ Read the return policy and the full price before you pay.
• ☐ Pay by credit card, never a gift card or wire transfer.
• ☐ Screenshot the listing and keep the confirmation number.

Subscribe below for the next Shopping piece, on timing big purchases around the November sales.