Especially in the run-up to Christmas, people do a lot of shopping online. But which online shop is reputable and where is there a risk of rip-off? For some time now, consumer advice centers have been offering so-called fake shop finders, which consumers can use to find out whether an online shop is reliable and reputable or criminal.
You can find such fake shop finders, for example, here at the Lower Saxony Consumer Center and here at the Federal Consumer Association. The way it works is always the same: you enter the web address of the web shop you are considering and click on “Check shop URL”.
This is how the exam works
You will see the result in seconds. A button shows in color whether there is a risk: Green means that the shop is safe and has not yet attracted negative attention. Yellow means that the shop cannot be clearly evaluated and has not yet been registered on fake shop lists or as a trustworthy shop on a whitelist. The user must check important details themselves. Red means that the online shop has already been noticed as a fake shop and is registered on relevant lists. In this case, you should refrain from shopping there.
This classification according to traffic light colors is then followed by a detailed evaluation of the online shop. The tool evaluates the shipping and return options and checks whether an imprint is available. The fake shop finder also compares the URL entered with different lists such as Trustpilot, whether they are included and how the URL is rated there. The tool also checks various technical characteristics such as the country in which the website is hosted.
This is how the fake shop finder works
The basis of the fake shop finder is a domain database that is constantly growing using artificial intelligence. If an Internet address is entered that is not yet known, the website is scanned for various characteristics. In addition to the legal notice and correct VAT ID, this also includes technical features that cannot be seen with the naked eye. The fake shop finder shows the probability of whether it is a dubious provider in the traffic light colors – supplemented by explanations of the individual results. Consumers can quickly see whether they can trust a shop or whether they should check it more closely or whether it would be better not to use it.
Lower Saxony Consumer Center
