Scammers register numerous fake domains ahead of the holiday season to trick shoppers.
There have been hundreds of suspicious domains registered in 2024 that target top brands and products, including iPhones, Prada clothing and Clinique beauty products, according to digital-risk firm BrandShield.
"We’re seeing fraudsters across the globe continue to exploit the holiday season by targeting consumers, who are spending increasingly more on holiday gifts year after year," said Yoav Keren, CEO and co-founder of BrandShield.
"With the rise of AI-enabled threats, bad actors have even more sophisticated means of tricking shoppers into buying fakes and counterfeits, and in many cases, they’ll take their money and send nothing at all," he added. "Consumers must exercise caution to ensure they buy from legitimate sources."
Registrations of fake websites in October targeting iPhone shoppers were the highest with 606 domains, followed by 239 registrations for Prada, 215 for Hermes, 191 for sneaker brand Hoka and 159 for beauty brand Clinique, BrandShield said.
How to avoid fake shopping websites
BrandShield said there are some simple steps to avoid fake shopping websites:
- URL typos: If the website URL, or address, contains typos, such as “targett.com” or “eBaay.com”
- Spelling or grammar errors: If the website has spelling or grammatical errors throughout. Legitimate retailers and merchants will invest in ensuring that the website is free of errors such as these.
- Messages from third parties: If you receive a text or a private message through social media, email, text or instant messaging, offering a deal for a product that seems too good to be true, avoid clicking the links. Try finding the special offer directly at the website of the company you would like to buy from.
- Negative reviews: If a website or company has many negative reviews, it may be a scam. Also, look for fake positive reviews trying to balance out real warnings from scam victims, and err on the side of caution when purchasing from unknown sellers.
- No URL padlock: If a website does not have a padlock image to the left of its URL. That being said, many phishing websites now have padlocks next to the left of their URLs, so this doesn’t necessarily indicate that a website is safe.
