How do I check if an online shop in South Africa is legit?
Look for a real company behind the shop: a registered business you can find on the CIPC register, a physical address, a phone number that is answered and recent reviews outside its own page. Prices far below every other shop and payment only by EFT to a private account are the two biggest warnings.
Fake shops take orders for weeks, send nothing, then vanish and reopen under a new name. Many run on Instagram and Facebook with copied product photos and bought followers. Real small shops exist there too, so check rather than assume.
How to check
- Search the shop's name together with "scam", "reviews" and "did not deliver".
- Look for the business on the CIPC register and compare the name with the bank account you are asked to pay into.
- Reverse image search a few product photos; copied photos mean a copied shop.
- Check how old the page or domain is and whether comments are turned off.
- Prefer payment methods that let you dispute, and never EFT to a personal account for a first order.
Frequently asked questions
- They have thousands of followers. Does that prove it?
- No. Followers can be bought. Look at whether real people comment about receiving their orders.
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