Most disappointing purchases are ordinary: an item that does not fit, a delivery that takes longer than you hoped, a sale that was less generous than the badge implied. Scams are different. They try to get your money, or your details, without giving you a fair chance to put things right.
This guide is about slowing those moments down. It draws on official and specialist consumer advice from the FTC, the CMA and Which?. It is not a roundup of this month's scams, and it is not a complete map of every fraud.
This is educational information, not legal advice.
Offers that skip past comparison
A genuine bargain usually survives a second look. A scam often cannot.
The FTC's marketplace guide says that if a seller lists an expensive item for a very low price, it might be fake. Combined with the CMA's advice to shop around, that gives you a simple test: open a few other current listings for the same item and condition. If one figure sits far below the others without a clear reason (obvious damage, missing parts, a different model), do not treat the gap as your good luck until you have checked the seller, the photos and the payment method.
There is no fixed percentage that counts as "too low." Your comparison is the evidence, not a rule of thumb.
The CMA also warns that some discount claims may be set up so the cut looks larger than it is, and that some sites pressure you with a false impression of popularity or scarcity. Those tactics are not always scams, but they are cousins of the same hurry. If a page needs you to decide before you can read the terms, the page is choosing the pace, not you.
Unexpected links, ads and lookalike shops
A common route into a bad payment page is a link you did not go looking for.
Which? publishes advice on spotting fake or fraudulent websites, including taking a moment to check the address bar, being wary of poor or odd language, and looking at reviews across several sources. It also publishes advice on scam search ads: the headline may sound like a shop you know, while the web address belongs to someone else; an offer that looks too good should make you inspect the link; and a trail of five-star reviews is not, on its own, proof that the advertiser is genuine.
The CMA's 2025 shopping guide adds a related caution: avoid clicking links in unexpected emails or texts, and go directly to the retailer's website instead. It also warns that QR codes can hide malicious links.
The habit is old-fashioned and effective. Type the shop's name into your browser yourself, or use a bookmark you created earlier, rather than following a surprise shortcut. If you arrived via an advert, read the address before you sign in or pay.
Payment methods that are hard to unwind
The FTC recommends buying from sellers who accept safer payment methods, such as credit cards or a secure online payment system that protects buyers if something goes wrong. Scammers, the same page says, often ask you to pay in ways that make it tough to get your money back.
Protections vary by country and by provider, so this is not a recommendation of a particular card. It is a reason to ask, before you pay, "If this goes wrong, what can I do?" Gift cards, irreversible transfers and unfamiliar methods suggested at the last minute are all prompts to stop and reread the listing.
If a seller who began the conversation on a marketplace suddenly wants to finish it by email, by text or by a payment that leaves the marketplace, you are no longer in the same deal you started. Either return to the original checkout or walk away.
Pressure is a feature, not a coincidence
Scam pages and aggressive sale pages share a tone: decide now, or lose this. Clocks, warnings that other people are viewing the item, and messages that you must pay a deposit immediately to "hold" something are all ways of shrinking the time you have to think.
You can answer them with a delay you control:
- Open a new tab and find the shop yourself.
- Compare at least one other current listing.
- Read the returns and contact details.
- Check how you would pay, and whether that method offers any protection.
- Talk to someone you trust if a large sum is involved.
If the offer cannot survive half an hour, it may not be an offer you want.
Personal details are part of the haul
Some scams want your money. Others want a way into your email, your shopping accounts or your card details, and the parcel is only the bait.
Be cautious about pages that ask for more information than a normal checkout needs: copies of identity documents, your full social security or national insurance number, or the one-time passcode from your bank. A genuine shop may need an address and a payment method. It rarely needs you to read a code from a text aloud to a stranger in a chat window.
If a message claims to be about a parcel you do not remember ordering, do not click the tracking link. Open the shop or courier site yourself, or check the account you actually ordered from. The CMA's advice to avoid unexpected links applies as much to "your delivery is waiting" as it does to a surprise sale.
Keep copies of listings and messages if you proceed. They are much easier to collect before a page disappears than after.
Reporting and getting help
Reporting and getting help
If something already feels wrong after you have paid, collect what you have (listing pages, messages, payment records) and use the official routes where you live. In the United States, the FTC takes consumer reports at its reporting site. In the UK, Action Fraud and official consumer services are the usual starting points, and your bank or card issuer may also need to hear quickly.
We are not going to script those reports here, because the forms and the right body depend on where you are and what happened. Search for the official consumer protection site in your country rather than for a phone number that arrived with the scam.
A closing routine when your stomach tightens
Trust that feeling enough to pause. Then:
- Leave the page that is hurrying you and find the shop or marketplace yourself.
- Compare the price with other current listings.
- Check the seller and the photos, as described in our marketplace guide.
- Read how you would pay and how you would return the item.
- If any step fails, do not send money.
Hunting for deals works better when you can walk away. That is true whether you are buying something small or something expensive, and it is true even when a badge says the offer ends at midnight. If you need official help after something goes wrong, take the records you saved and use a government or regulator site you found yourself, not a number that arrived with the message that worried you. The best protection official guides keep repeating is not a secret password. It is time, another tab and a payment method you could dispute if the parcel never comes.
