You come across an online store displaying an abnormally low price on a product you’ve been searching for weeks. The instinct: add to cart. The right instinct: check who you are about to trust with your bank details. Most fraudulent sites today replicate the design, logos, and even the legal notices of legitimate sites. Distinguishing a copy from an original with the naked eye has become practically impossible without a method.
Check the SIREN and physical address of the online seller
Before looking at the design or reviews, start with the most verifiable: the legal identity of the seller. The legal notices must display a SIREN or SIRET number, a company name, and a postal address.
The trap is that a fraudster can copy this information from a legitimate site. A valid SIREN number in a public registry does not prove that the site you are visiting belongs to that company. Therefore, check that the name, address, and declared activity correspond to the type of products sold.
Specifically, type the postal address into a mapping service and look at street photos. If the headquarters of a clothing store points to a residential house or a vacant lot, that’s a strong signal. You can also test the reliability of a website by cross-referencing several of these checks to save time.
On marketplaces, an additional precaution is necessary: the actual seller may be different from the platform. Click on the name of the third-party seller to check their own delivery and return conditions, rather than assuming that the marketplace guarantees every transaction.
HTTPS and SSL certificate: what the padlock doesn’t tell you
The padlock in the address bar means that the connection between the browser and the server is encrypted. This is a technical minimum, not a trust label. A fraudulent site can perfectly use HTTPS, since basic SSL certificates are free and can be obtained in a few minutes.
What you are really checking with the HTTPS protocol is that the transmitted data (password, card number) does not flow in plain text. A site without a padlock in 2026 should be avoided immediately, but its presence does not exempt from any other verification.
Domain name age
A domain name registered for just a few days or weeks to sell products from major brands at cut prices deserves the utmost caution. You can check the creation date of a domain using WHOIS-type tools. A very recent domain associated with aggressive promotions is a classic warning sign.
Age alone is not enough either: an old domain may have been bought. Cross-reference this information with other clues (legal notices, reviews, content consistency).
Customer reviews and trust signals: separating the real from the fabricated
Online reviews are the most consulted criterion before a purchase, and also the easiest to manipulate. Here are concrete points to check to assess the credibility of the reviews displayed on a site:
- Are the reviews hosted by a certified third-party platform, or directly on the seller’s site (which can filter them freely)?
- Do negative reviews exist, and does the seller respond to them? A site that only displays five-star comments without any nuance is suspicious.
- Are the publication dates spaced out naturally, or concentrated over a short period (a sign of bulk review purchases)?
- Is the content of the reviews specific to the product (details about size, color, delivery time), or generic and interchangeable (“great product, I recommend”)?
A site can also display logos of trust labels or certifications without actually being affiliated with them. Click on the logo: if it does not lead to a verification page on the label’s site, it is probably decorative.
Cookie banner and T&Cs: two often overlooked clues
The cookie consent banner is rarely seen as an indicator of reliability. However, it provides insight into how seriously the site treats personal data.
In France, refusing cookies should be as easy as accepting, and the user should be able to change their choice at any time. A site that only offers a prominently visible “Accept all” button, without an accessible refusal option, does not comply with data collection rules. This is not proof of fraud, but it is an indicator of regulatory negligence that may signal others.
Readable and coherent general terms and conditions of sale
The T&Cs should be accessible, usually at the bottom of the page. Open them and check:
- Is the text written in correct French, or filled with approximate phrases and gaps?
- Are the withdrawal periods and return conditions clearly specified?
- Do the payment methods offered match those displayed on the order page?
Incomplete or obviously copied T&Cs from another site are sufficient reason not to finalize a purchase.
What to do after a suspicious order
If your credit card details may have been compromised, contact your bank immediately to block it. Keep all evidence: screenshots of the site, order confirmation, email exchanges.
Reporting to the relevant authorities (online reporting platform, consumer association) also helps feed databases used to identify repeat fraudulent sites. Cross-referencing technical, legal, and commercial checks remains the only reliable approach, as no single criterion is enough to guarantee trust.
