Arnaques à l'achat en ligne
Les arnaques à l'achat en ligne impliquent des boutiques en ligne frauduleuses qui affichent des produits à des prix fortement réduits. Les victimes paient pour des articles qui n'arrivent jamais, sont contrefaits, ou sont radicalement différents de ce qui était annoncé.
Tactiques courantes
- • Heavily discounted luxury brands (70-90% off)
- • Professional-looking websites with stolen product images
- • Fake countdown timers creating urgency ("Only 2 left!")
- • Only accepting non-refundable payment methods (wire transfer, crypto)
- • Running sponsored ads on social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) that link to convincing but fraudulent storefronts
- • Using recently expired or abandoned domain names from formerly legitimate businesses to inherit their search engine ranking and trust signals
- • Creating fake review websites that give the fraudulent store glowing reviews, so victims who search for "[store name] reviews" find seemingly positive results
Comment les identifier
- Prices are too good to be true compared to other retailers
- The website has no real contact information or customer service
- Domain was registered very recently (check with ScamLens)
- No social media presence or only fake/bought followers
- The website's "About Us" page contains generic or plagiarized text, and the contact address is missing or leads to an unrelated location when checked on Google Maps
- Product descriptions are poorly written, machine-translated, or copied word-for-word from legitimate retailers like Amazon or Walmart
- The site only offers payment via bank transfer, cryptocurrency, or payment apps like Zelle — and does not accept credit cards with buyer protection
Comment vous protéger
- Check the website domain age and reputation with ScamLens before buying
- Use credit cards instead of debit cards or wire transfers for buyer protection
- Search for reviews of the store on independent review sites
- Be suspicious of deals that are significantly below market price
- Use virtual credit card numbers or services like Privacy.com for online purchases, so you can limit charges and cancel the card if the store turns out to be fraudulent
- Before purchasing from an unfamiliar store, search for the store name plus "scam" or "reviews" and carefully evaluate the results — be aware that some review sites themselves may be fake
- Verify that the store has a working customer service phone number by calling it before placing a large order
Exemples concrets
In the United States, a fake online pharmacy promoted through Google Ads sold heavily discounted prescription medications that were either counterfeit or never shipped — the FDA warned consumers after hundreds of complaints were filed.
In the UK, a fraudulent electronics store advertised "clearance sale" deals on Currys and Argos lookalike domains, accepting payments in British pounds via bank transfer and shipping empty boxes or cheap knockoffs to buyers.
In New Zealand, a Facebook-advertised clothing boutique showed stylish outfits at steep discounts — New Zealand customers who paid via POLi bank transfer received flimsy garments that looked nothing like the photos, and the store ignored all refund requests to Consumer NZ.
In Southeast Asia, fake Shopee and Lazada storefronts sold counterfeit electronics and designer goods at deep discounts across Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines — buyers who paid via e-wallets like GCash or GrabPay discovered the sellers vanished after payment.
In Germany, a seasonal pop-up store selling Christmas market decorations appeared in Instagram ads targeting German users, collected hundreds of orders paid via Sofort bank transfer over two weeks, then deleted all social media accounts and disappeared.
In South Africa, a fake holiday rental website mimicked a popular Johannesburg travel agency, listing luxury Cape Town properties at below-market rates — dozens of families paid deposits in South African rand via EFT and arrived to find the properties did not exist.