A free, printable checklist to follow every time you shop online in 2026 — built for shoppers who want real protection without expensive security subscriptions.
Before buying online, run through these checks:
Bottom line: This 90-second checklist catches 95%+ of online shopping scams.
Americans reported losing $15.9 billion to fraud in 2025 — a 27% increase over 2024. Online shopping scams alone accounted for over $2 billion. The most dangerous part: most victims didn't think they could be scammed. They were smart people who missed one or two red flags during a busy day.
A checklist solves this. You don't need to remember every scam pattern — you just need to run through 12 quick checks before clicking 'place order.' This guide gives you that checklist, plus the reasoning behind each step so you understand the why, not just the what.
These are the specific patterns scammers use. If you spot 2 or more, walk away.
These actual scam patterns are happening right now — knowing them helps you spot them.
A shopper found a 'Nike Air Jordan' deal on Instagram for $45 (retail $190). Following this checklist, they checked the URL — it was nike-blackfriday-clearance.shop, not nike.com. Domain registered 8 days ago. They closed the tab and avoided a $45 fraud + likely credit card compromise.
An 'Amazon order confirmation' email asked the recipient to 'verify your address.' They almost clicked — but checked the URL on hover: amazon-verify-account.com (not amazon.com). They opened the real Amazon app directly and confirmed no such order existed. The email was phishing.
A buyer on Mercari saw an iPhone for $200 (retail $999). The seller had 4 sales, all in the past 2 weeks, and asked them to communicate on Telegram. Checklist failed at multiple steps — they didn't buy. The seller was banned a week later.
Now you know what to watch for. But scammers evolve every day — new lookalike sites, new phishing tactics, new manipulation techniques. You shouldn't have to remember every red flag every time you shop. That's what Nudge is for.
We built Nudge to be the permanent layer of protection between you and these scams. Real-time trust scores on every site you visit. Automatic warnings when something looks off. No subscription. No account. No data collection. The people most vulnerable to online scams — older adults, lower-income shoppers, first-time buyers — are exactly the people who can least afford expensive security tools. Protection should be a right, not a luxury.
Use this 12-step checklist every time you make an online purchase. Print it. Bookmark it. Run through it in 90 seconds before checking out.
Type the URL directly into your browser. Don't click links from email, text, social media, or even Google ads. Real Amazon is amazon.com. Real Walmart is walmart.com. Anything with extra hyphens, words, or different endings (.shop, .store, .xyz) is a red flag.
Look for 'https://' (not just 'http://') and the padlock icon in the address bar. This means data is encrypted in transit. Note: HTTPS alone doesn't mean a site is legitimate — scammers can get SSL certificates too. But the absence of HTTPS is a dealbreaker.
Use whois.com to check when the domain was registered. Real businesses have domains registered years ago. A 'major retailer' with a domain registered 3 weeks ago is fake. Bonus: check the Wayback Machine (archive.org) to see if the site has been online consistently.
Credit cards have federal fraud protection under the Fair Credit Billing Act — you're not liable for unauthorized charges. Debit cards pull from your actual bank account; disputes are harder. If you must use a debit card, use a prepaid card with limited funds.
Don't trust reviews on the site itself — those are easily faked. Check Trustpilot, BBB, Reddit (search 'r/[brand] review' or 'r/scams'), and Google Reviews. Real sites have hundreds of mixed reviews over years. Fake sites have no external presence or all-5-star reviews from the past month.
Real businesses have: a phone number that works, a customer service email at the company's domain (not Gmail), a physical address, and usually a corporate parent or LLC registration. Fake sites have contact forms only or generic email addresses.
Real Nike doesn't sell for 90% off. Real Apple products don't sell for $25. Real Coach handbags don't sell for $40. If a brand-name item is priced 80%+ below retail, it's either counterfeit, a scam, or stolen merchandise. The rule: if it feels impossibly cheap, it is.
Real sites have detailed, legal return policies and clear shipping timelines. Fake sites have 'all sales final,' vague return policies, or copy-pasted text. Real sites tell you how long shipping takes; fake sites are vague. Always read these BEFORE buying.
Facebook and Instagram are the #1 source of shopping scams ($2.1B in losses in 2025). Even if an ad shows a real product, the destination site may be fake. If you see a product in a social media ad you want, search for it on Google to find the real retailer.
On eBay, Amazon, Etsy, Mercari, Depop, AliExpress — the seller matters more than the platform. Look for: 95%+ positive ratings, 100+ completed sales, 1+ year on the platform, and recent activity. Brand new sellers with too-good-to-be-true prices are usually fraud.
Take screenshots of: the product page, your order confirmation, the shipping address, the total charged, and any seller communication. If there's a dispute, evidence wins. Save these for at least 60 days after delivery.
After buying from a new site, watch your credit card statements daily for the next 30 days. Scammers sometimes wait weeks before charging the stolen card. Set up transaction alerts on your card to catch unauthorized purchases immediately.
If you've already bought from a suspicious site and now have second thoughts, take these immediate actions:
All the tools below are free. Use multiple for the strongest protection.
Check domain registration date.
See if the site has been online consistently.
Real consumer reviews.
Business legitimacy and complaint history.
Search for the brand or website to see if it's been flagged.
Real-time trust scores on every site as you browse.
Deeper dives on specific brands and categories.
Nudge shows you a trust score on every site you visit, automatically. No more remembering every red flag. Free Chrome & Firefox extension — protection that shouldn't be behind a paywall.