Retail

Fake stores that sell your brand.

Q: Do you cover fake stores targeting shoppers overseas?

Yes. We monitor for fakes in any country and language, and work with registrars and hosts around the world. For one brand, we found fake stores named after 29 different countries.

Copied online stores, fake sale ads, country lookalike sites and fake delivery texts all use your name. We find them and get them taken down before your shoppers pay for goods that never arrive.

Book a demo Request a takedown

Impersonation watchExample feed

TimeThreatWhereStatus

08:31Fake online storesolsticeco-sale.shopWebsiteRemoved
09:02Country lookalike storesolsticeco-italia.comWebsiteRemoved
09:44Fake clearance ad“Closing down, 80% off”FacebookRemoved
10:15Fake delivery text“Your order is on hold”SMSReported
10:52Fake rewards loginsolsticeco-members.topWebsiteRemoved
11:27Store code in publicPublic repositoryGitHubChecking

98%taken down

Of the fake stores and scam sites we pursued for retail clients, January to June 2026.

The shopper journey

Where scammers meet your shoppers.

Scammers wait at every step of the shopper journey. Here's where they show up and what we take down.

Sponsored · FacebookSolstice & Co is closing down. Everything 80% off.solsticeco-outlet.shopFinal stock clearance. Ends tonight. Free shipping on all orders.

Discover

Fake sale ads and outlet pages.

Scammers run ads and social pages using your name, logo and product photos, promising huge discounts or a closing-down sale. Every click leads to a fake store.

Closing-down and clearance ads
Fake outlet and giveaway pages
Your product photos in scam ads

Social media →Scams →

Search resultsSolstice & Co Italia | Official Store
solsticeco-italia.com · Spedizione gratuita, fino al 70% di sconto

Lookalike and country stores.

Fake stores copy your site and sit on addresses that look official, often a country version in the local language. Shoppers find them in search and ads.

86%of the retail scam sites we pursued used the brand’s name in the web address.

Brand abuse →Fake shops →

CheckoutComplete your orderCard number, expiry and security code. Pay by bank transfer for an extra 10% off. solsticeco-sale.shop/checkout

Checkout

Fake checkouts that take card details.

The shopper pays, nothing arrives, and their card details are kept and sold. Some push bank transfers or gift cards so the money can’t be recovered.

Copied checkout pages
Discounts for bank transfer or gift cards
Payment and login details taken

Phishing →Scams →

Text messageSolstice & Co: Your order is on hold due to an incomplete address. Pay the $2.99 redelivery fee: solsticeco-track.top

Delivery

Fake order and delivery messages.

Texts and emails about a parcel on hold or a failed payment send shoppers to a fake page that asks for a small fee and takes their card details.

“Order on hold” texts
Small redelivery fees
Fake tracking pages

Smishing →Phishing →

Your Solstice Rewards points expire todaysolsticeco-members.topLog in to redeem 4,200 points for a $50 gift card before midnight.

Rewards and returns

Member logins, gift cards and refunds.

Fake rewards and refund pages collect member logins, then use saved cards and points. Fake support accounts offer refunds that never come.

Fake member and rewards logins
Gift card and points offers
Fake support and refund accounts

Phishing →Social media →

Public repositorysolsticeco-storefront / checkout.jsSTORE_API_KEY=pk_live_•••••••• · committed 5 days ago

Behind the scenes

Leaked code and customer data.

Store code, API keys and customer lists turn up in public repositories and private channels, where they’re used to build better fakes or target your customers.

Store code and keys in public
Customer lists for sale
Staff logins in private channels

Dark and deep web →Exposed code →

How it works

Up and running in three steps.

solsticeco.com@SolsticeCoSolstice & Co appSolstice RewardsLetter of authority ✓

Step 1

Tell us what’s yours

Share your brand names, official domains, social accounts and app listings, plus a letter of authority so we can act on your behalf.

Web and domains
Social media
App stores
Messaging

Step 2

We watch around the clock

We monitor the web, social media, app stores, marketplaces and messaging channels for fakes. Tell us about upcoming sales and launches and we’ll watch more closely.

solsticeco-sale.shopFake online store

Successfully suspendedEvidence and outcome in your portal

Step 3

We take them down

Every find is checked, then reported to the platform, host or registrar with evidence. You see each case and its outcome in the Unphish portal.

Our data

What we see for retail brands.

What the fake stores and scam sites we pursued for retail and e-commerce clients looked like, January to June 2026.

98%

of the fake stores and scam sites we pursued were taken down

82%

were fake online stores selling the brand’s products

86%

used the brand’s name in the web address

70%

weren’t on .com, spread across 12 other endings

What they were

Fake online storesCopied sites, country stores82%
Login and payment phishingMember logins, checkouts11%
Other brand misuseSocial pages, exposed code7%

Most were full copies of the real store, with the brand’s logo, product photos and prices cut just enough to look like a real sale.

Where the fake stores lived

.shop49%
.com30%
.ru14%
Other7%

Web address endings of the retail scam sites we pursued. Other includes country endings such as .fr, .de and .at.

The bigger picture

9,628

shopping scam reports with a loss, the most reported scam type with a loss

19%

rise in reported shopping scam losses on the year before

47%

of reported scam losses came through fake websites, ads, social media and apps

Source: ACCC, National Anti-Scam Centre, Scamwatch reports January to September 2025 (published 18 November 2025).

Unphish figures: fake stores and scam sites we pursued for retail and e-commerce clients, January to June 2026. Figures are rounded.

When fake stores appear

Fake stores arrive in waves.

They don’t trickle in. They launch in bursts, often when shoppers are already looking for a deal. June, the month of end of financial year sales, was our busiest month for retail clients.

37%of the retail scam sites we pursued arrived in June 2026.

Sales we watch more closely

Boxing Day
Click Frenzy
End of financial year
Black Friday
Cyber Monday
Christmas

Tell us about your own sales and launches and we’ll watch more closely around them.

Retail scam sites we pursued, by month

January to June 2026

6%Jan

1%Feb

31%Mar

13%Apr

11%May

37%JunEOFY sales

Share of the retail scam sites we pursued, by month they were reported. Figures are rounded.

Your Unphish portal

Every fake, and where it’s up to.

Fake sites, accounts and apps land in one threat feed. Approve a takedown in a click, then follow each case until it’s gone.

Threat FeedSolstice & Co · last 30 days

Example data

Pipeline health

With you
In enforcement
Verifying
Resolved

P1
solsticeco-sale.shopFake online store · Web
Awaiting review
P1
solsticeco-italia.comCountry lookalike store · Web
In enforcement
P2
facebook.com/SolsticeCoOutletFake outlet page · Facebook
Suspended
P3
solsticeco-members.topFake rewards login · Web
Verifying

Confidence

Illustration with example data. Solstice & Co is a fictional brand.

Case study

How we took down a network of fake country stores.

Case study

A consumer products brand

Industry: Retail and e-commerce
Period: January to June 2026
Covered: Fake stores, lookalike domains and hosting

Client name withheld to protect confidentiality.

01 · Before

The challenge

Fake stores copied the brand’s site and products, many dressed up as local versions for shoppers in other countries, in their own language. New stores kept launching in bursts on cheap .shop addresses.

02 · After

What we did

We picked up new stores as they went live, checked each one, and reported them to registrars and hosts with evidence, working through each wave until the stores were gone.

99%of the fake stores we pursued were taken down

29countries named in fake store addresses

41%posed as a local country store

Our results across all clients, threat by threat

Scam websites98%

of the scam websites we pursued went offline.

Fake online stores
Closing-down and clearance sites

Scams → Phishing sites99%

of the phishing sites we pursued were taken down.

Fake checkouts and member logins
Fake delivery and tracking pages

Phishing → Impersonation accounts99%

of the impersonation accounts we pursued on Facebook, X and Instagram were removed.

Fake outlet and sale pages
Fake giveaway accounts

Social media → Fake apps92%

of the fake apps and app download sites we pursued were taken down.

Copied shopping apps
Fake download pages

Mobile applications → Executive impersonation100%

of the executive impersonations we pursued were taken down.

Fake founder giveaways
Fake recruiters and job ads

Executive impersonation → Compromised websites100%

of the compromised website cases we pursued were disrupted.

Fake store pages hidden on hacked sites
Removed with the owner and host

Compromised websites →

Results across all Unphish clients, January to June 2026. Figures are rounded.

Who it’s for

Built for the teams who look after your shoppers.

Every team sees different fakes. We find and remove them all.

E-commerce and digital

Fake stores copy your site, products and prices.

We remove

Fake online stores
Lookalike domains
Country copy stores

Customer care

Shoppers who were scammed contact you first.

We remove

Fake support accounts
Fake order texts
Refund scams

Marketing and social

Your ads, photos and sales copied to sell fakes.

We remove

Fake sale ads
Fake outlet pages
Fake giveaways

Loyalty and CRM

Member logins, points and gift cards targeted.

We remove

Fake rewards logins
Gift card scams
Fake member offers

Legal and brand

Your trademarks used without permission, with evidence for every action.

We remove

Trademark misuse
Unauthorised resellers
Copied product listings

Threats

Every threat retail brands face, explained.

ScamsFake stores, sales and giveaways PhishingFake checkouts and member logins Brand abuseLookalike and country stores Social mediaFake outlet pages and sale ads Smishing and vishingFake order and delivery texts Mobile applicationsCopied shopping apps VIP and executive impersonationFake founders and fake recruiters Dark and deep webCustomer lists and staff logins for sale PiracyCopied product photos and store code

See all threats →

For your shoppers

Help shoppers spot a fake store.

Two short notes you can adapt for your website, emails, order confirmations or social pages. One shows shoppers how to tell you apart from the fakes. The other tells them what to do if they’ve been caught.

The copied version leaves blanks for your brand name and official details.

Solstice & CoShopping safely

How to spot a fake Solstice & Co store

Our only online store is solsticeco.com. We don’t run country sites on other addresses.
If the price looks too good, check it on our site before you buy.
We never ask you to pay by bank transfer, gift card or crypto.
We’re not closing down. Clearance ads saying we are aren’t from us.
Order updates only come from solsticeco.com and never ask for a fee.

Seen a fake store or ad? Report it at solsticeco.com/report

Example

Solstice & CoCustomer care

Bought from a fake store?

Call your bank straight away to stop or dispute the payment.
Change your password if you used your account login on the fake site.
Watch for follow-up scams offering to get your money back.
Send us the web address so we can get the store taken down.
Report it to Scamwatch to help warn other shoppers.

We can’t refund orders from fake stores, but we can help stop others being caught.

Example

FAQ

Retail questions, answered.

Why do scammers copy retail brands?

Shoppers already trust your name, your products and your prices. A copied store with a believable discount gets card details and payments quickly. Business impersonators cost Americans nearly $1bn in reported losses in 2025, according to the FTC.

What is a fake online store?

A website that copies a real brand's store, using its name, logo, product photos and prices, to take payments for goods that never arrive or to collect card details. Of the retail scam sites we pursued, 82% were fake online stores.

Why do fake stores use country names and endings like .shop?

Country names make a fake look like an official local store, and cheap endings like .shop let scammers launch many copies at once. Almost half of the retail scam sites we pursued were on .shop, and for one brand, 41% of the fake stores posed as a local country store.

Can you remove fake sale ads and outlet pages on social media?

Yes. We report fake outlet pages, giveaway accounts and scam ads to the platforms they're on, including Facebook, Instagram and X, and take down the fake stores they link to.

How long does a takedown take?

It depends on the platform, host or registrar involved and how they respond. We follow every case through until it's resolved, and you can see where each one is up to in the Unphish portal.

Do you cover fake stores targeting shoppers overseas?

Yes. We monitor for fake stores in any country and language, and work with registrars and hosts around the world. For one brand, we found fake stores named after 29 different countries.

What do you need from us to get started?

Your brand names, official domains, social accounts and app listings, plus a letter of authority so we can act on your behalf. Then we start monitoring.

Other industries

See how scams hit other sectors.

Every industry gets targeted in its own way. Explore the threats we find and take down in each.

Airline and Transport

Fake booking sites, points scams and support accounts.

Banking and Financial Services

Fake bank sites, support lines and investment scams.

Crypto

Fake bonus sites, wallet drainers and support accounts.

Public Sector and Government

Fake government services and payment demands.

Lottery and Gambling

Fake betting sites, bonuses and VIP managers.

Fintech

Copied apps and fake payment requests.

Non-Profit Organisations

Fake appeals and donation pages.

Film and Entertainment

Fake tickets, streams and giveaways.

Solutions for retailers

SolutionScam ProtectionFake stores and sale scams → SolutionDomain ProtectionLookalike and country store domains → SolutionSocial Media ProtectionFake outlet pages and giveaways → SolutionAd Fraud ProtectionScam ads promoting fake sales →

See all solutions →

Try it

Real or fake?

Five things a Solstice & Co shopper might see. The brand only sells at solsticeco.com and in its official app. Which would you trust?

The quickest check: look at the web address before you pay, and be wary of huge discounts and bank transfer requests. If in doubt, go to the brand’s site yourself.

Report a fake →

See which fake stores are using your name.

Book a demo and we'll show you the fake stores, ads and accounts copying your brand right now.

Book a demo Request a takedown