How to Check if a Shopping Website Is Genuine or Fake

Festival sales bring a flood of offers to every phone in Kota: links in WhatsApp groups, ads on social media, text messages promising huge discounts on phones, sarees, appliances and gold coins. Most come from real sellers, but some lead to fake shops that take the money and send nothing, or send something worthless. This guide shows how to check whether a shopping website is genuine before you pay, which payment habits keep you safe, and what to do quickly if something goes wrong.

We do not name or rate any online shop. A list of “safe sites” goes out of date quickly; the checks below work on any site.

Why fake shops appear in the festival season

Fake shopping sites are cheap to build and easy to advertise. They copy product photos and logos from real shops, set prices that seem too good to miss and add countdown timers to rush you. They peak when people expect big discounts: before Diwali, during wedding season and around big sale days. Our Diwali shopping guide covers safe buying in local markets during the same weeks.

Check 1: the web address

Before anything else, look at the full address in the browser bar.

• Spelling: fake sites change one letter, add a hyphen, or add words like “sale”, “offer” or “official” to a known name.
• Ending: a known shop that normally uses one domain ending suddenly appearing under another is suspicious.
• How you got there: typing the address yourself or using the store’s own app is safer than tapping a link in a forwarded message or an ad.
• The padlock: the lock symbol and “https” only mean the connection is encrypted. Fraudsters can get them easily, so a padlock does not prove a shop is real.

Some people also check when a domain was registered using a public “whois” lookup. A shop claiming years of history on a site created a few weeks ago is a red flag.

Check 2: the seller details

India’s Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 require online platforms and sellers to show certain information clearly. Look in the footer, “About” and “Contact” pages for:

• The legal name of the business and its physical address
• Customer care contact details
• A grievance officer with name and contact details
• Return, refund, exchange and warranty policies
• On marketplaces, the seller’s name and details for each product

A shop that shows only a WhatsApp number or a free email address, no address and no grievance officer is not meeting basic expectations. If a GSTIN is shown, check it with our GST number guide; a GSTIN that belongs to a completely different business is a warning sign.

Check 3: price and pressure

• Too cheap: compare the price with two or three well-known sellers. A brand-new phone or a gold coin at a fraction of its usual price is not a “glitch” in your favour.
• Pressure: timers, “only 2 left” banners and “offer ends in 5 minutes” pop-ups are designed to stop you thinking.
• Only one product: fake sites often push one hot item, like a phone or a saree set, with few other products.
• Copied content: product descriptions with spelling errors, mismatched images and no real specifications.

Our guide to smart shopping in Kota explains how to judge a fair deal in local shops; the same instincts apply online.

Check 4: reviews and reputation

Reviews on the site itself are easy to fake. Instead:

• Search the shop’s name along with words like “complaint”, “fraud” or “review” and look at what people say on other sites.
• On social media shops, look at comments: are they real people with ordinary profiles, and are complaints deleted?
• Ask friends or family who have bought from the same site.

Check 5: how they want to be paid

The payment step reveals many scams.

• Personal UPI IDs: a shop that asks you to pay a person’s UPI ID or scan a personal QR code rather than going through a checkout is a warning sign.
• Advance only: “full payment first, then we ship” from an unknown seller is high risk.
• Cash on delivery tricks: some fake sellers offer cash on delivery but first ask for a small “booking” or “confirmation” fee online. Do not pay it.
• OTP requests: no genuine shop needs your OTP, UPI PIN or card PIN over the phone or chat.

Use payment methods that give you a way to dispute a transaction, such as cards and established payment gateways. Our UPI fraud guide explains collect requests, fake refund calls and other common tricks in detail.

Social media and WhatsApp shops

Many genuine small businesses, including Kota’s own weavers and craft sellers, sell through Instagram and WhatsApp. That is fine, but checking matters more because there is no platform in the middle.

• Ask for a business name, address and, where applicable, a GSTIN.
• Ask for a video of the actual product, not catalogue photos.
• Start with a small order.
• Prefer sellers who also have a physical shop you can visit or a listing on a known marketplace.

If you sell your own crafts online, our guide to selling handmade crafts in Kota explains how to show buyers you are genuine.

A quick checklist before you pay

Run through these questions in a minute before pressing “pay”:

• Did I reach this site by typing the address or from the store’s own app?
• Does the site show a legal business name, address and grievance officer?
• Is the price close to what other known sellers charge?
• Is there a clear return and refund policy?
• Am I paying through a checkout with a card or gateway, not to a personal UPI ID?
• Would I be comfortable if this money were lost?

If the answer to any of these is no, pause and check further, or buy from a seller you already know. Gold and silver deserve extra care online; our gold hallmark guide explains the HUID you should be able to verify after delivery.

When the parcel arrives

• Check the sender’s name and the order details before accepting.
• Where possible, record a short video while opening the parcel; it helps if you need to claim a refund.
• If the item is wrong, damaged or fake, report it to the seller or platform at once. Our guide to online shopping return policies explains your rights.

If you have been cheated

Speed matters, especially if money has left your account.

1. Call 1930, the national cyber crime helpline, or report on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Quick reports give the best chance of freezing money in transit.
2. Tell your bank or payment app and ask them to block the card or raise a dispute.
3. Keep evidence: screenshots of the site, the ad, the chat, the payment and the address.
4. Report the message: suspected fraud messages and calls can be reported through the Chakshu facility on Sanchar Saathi.
5. For a real seller who refuses a refund, use the National Consumer Helpline on 1915; our consumer complaint guide explains the next steps.

Never pay anyone who calls promising to “recover” your lost money for a fee; that is a second scam.