In 2026 Black Friday falls on 27 November. In the weeks before, shops appear that pose as an outlet or warehouse sale of well-known brands and look for buyers through ads on social networks. The police headquarters for Lower Bavaria warned about this in November 2024, the consumer advice centre in North Rhine-Westphalia and German police crime prevention (ProPK) in November 2025. Eight weeks before the date we counted in our own list how often words such as “outlet” appear in the addresses.
Why sale days help fake outlets
On sale days a very low price stands out less, and there is little time to check.In its tips for sale events (as of October 2025) the consumer advice centre writes (quotations from German sources in this article are our translation): “Especially on big discount days, when many retailers advertise bargains, the risk of confusion with fake shops, also outside Amazon, is greater.”In November 2024 the Lower Bavarian police described that the operators hope customers will not think for long. According to ProPK, such shops can be created in a short time with the help of AI.
The size of the advertised discount varies. The security company nebty found advertised discounts of 65 percent in a network of copied brand shops; more on that in the article Fake shops from a kit.In November 2025 the Austrian consumer platform Watchlist Internet described a fake toy shop that offered audio figures around 25 percent cheaper than the manufacturer, about five euros less. A moderate price cut therefore does not speak for a genuine shop.
Copies of well-known retailers also occur. In August 2026 the police headquarters in Neubrandenburg, north-eastern Germany, reported a woman who ordered on a site that looked almost identical to the online shop of a well-known discount supermarket chain. The goods did not arrive, and the direct debit of just under 100 euros went to a foreign account.
What a crossed-out price is worth
A crossed-out price shows the comparison price the shop chose. Section 11 of the German Price Indication Ordinance (PAngV) applies to retailers: anyone announcing a price reduction for a product must state the lowest total price charged within the 30 days before the reduction. The consumer advice centre points out that many sale prices rest on a comparison with the recommended retail price, which hardly any retailer charges.
The EU Commission and the consumer protection authorities have checked how often the rule is broken. Between November and December 2025, 25 countries and the Commission screened 314 traders. 94 percent advertised discounts during the Black Friday period. At least 30 percent did not comply with EU rules on price reductions, in a further 30 percent of cases more information was needed, and 40 percent complied fully.
From its 2022 check the Commission gives a worked example. A shop cut the price on Black Friday from 39.99 euros to 23.99 euros and advertised 40 percent off. The lowest price in the 30 days before was 27.99 euros, so 14 percent would have been correct.
How the shops reach you: ads on social networks
Many fake shops reach their buyers through paid ads. The consumer advice centre in North Rhine-Westphalia wrote in November 2025 that such shops are “often advertised immediately after a new domain goes live” and reach many people before they appear in a relevant position in search results.It cited around 1,200 newly identified fake shops per month. Since October 2025 its fake shop finder has therefore also scanned ads on Facebook and Instagram. The Lower Bavarian police named the same two networks.
An ad says nothing about whether anyone has checked the shop. Do not open the shop through the ad. Search for the brand yourself and compare the address with the one the manufacturer names on its own site.
What our list shows eight weeks before Black Friday
We counted how often typical sales words occur in the names of confirmed fake shops. On 3 October 2026 at 19:22 UTC we retrieved the 200 most recently checked entries of the public fake shop list (check dates 27 September to 3 October 2026). 164 come from a data feed. 36 were confirmed by an automatic rule and have not been reviewed by hand. We counted in the name without the ending, in lower case, as part of the name.
- Outlet and sale. Three of the 200 names contain “outlet” (1.5 percent), none contains “sale”. All three combine the word with a brand or company name.
- Store and official. Eight names contain “store” (4 percent), two “official” (1 percent). Together, 13 of the 200 names carry at least one of the four words (6.5 percent).
- Brand plus addition. Of the 36 entries from the automatic rule, 11 carry one of the three additions “store”, “official” or “hq” after a brand or business name. The other 25 have different additions such as “style” or “global”, or none.
- Sale days in the name. No name contains “black”, “friday” or “cyber”. Two contain “deal”, one the German word “rabatt” (discount).
The count applies to our data on that evening and says nothing about fake shops as a whole. Our data depends on what the data feed reports. The list changes constantly: the retrieval at 10:51 UTC on the same day for the article on clone networks contains partly different entries and counts endings rather than words. Searching for parts of words can hit by chance, and eight weeks before Black Friday is early.
In our data the word “outlet” rarely appears in the address. The promise of an outlet is made on the page and in the ad. We do not name individual domains here. You can enter a particular address in the shop check or look it up in the warning list.
How to recognise a fake brand outlet
Look at the address, the age of the domain, the payment methods in the last step of the order and the details about the operator. None of these features proves fraud on its own.
- Brand name plus an added word in the address. As early as 2022 Watchlist Internet treated it as an alarm signal when a brand name is combined with terms such as “Deutschland”, “Outlet” or “Sale”, for example brand-outlet.example. Addresses that have nothing to do with the goods also occur.
- Domain only a few weeks old. According to the consumer advice centre in North Rhine-Westphalia, fake shops are often advertised right after the domain goes live. Our shop check shows you the domain age. If the brand has existed for years and the outlet’s address only recently, ask the manufacturer.
- Discount on the whole range. In the 2025 Watchlist Internet case the shop advertised reductions on the entire range, and nebty cites 65 percent.
- Payment methods shrink at checkout. The consumer advice centre describes several payment methods being offered up to the last step of the order, after which only advance payment remains. In November 2025 Watchlist Internet saw a shop that in the end accepted only credit cards.
- Legal notice missing or belonging to another company. If the legal notice is missing, do not order. If there is one, it may be copied. How to check that is described in the article Genuine company data in fake shops.
- Seal without a certificate. According to the consumer advice centre, fake shops adorn themselves with invented seals or use genuine ones without being certified. Look the shop up in the seal provider’s directory, which you open yourself. More on this under Trust seals.
On reviews, see Checking shop experiences and reviews; on toys and electronics before Christmas, see Christmas gifts and fake shops.
Which payment method leaves you room to act
You have room to act with payment methods that can be reversed after the purchase or only fall due after delivery.
- Purchase on invoice. You pay once the goods have arrived. German police crime prevention advises preferring this payment method.
- Direct debit. According to the consumer advice centre you can have an authorised direct debit reversed within eight weeks of the debit, an unauthorised one for up to 13 months.
- Credit card. Through the chargeback procedure the card-issuing bank can cancel a payment, see Credit card and chargeback. Watchlist Internet advises against paying by credit card in unknown online shops: the money is hard to get back from the bank, it writes, though in the event of a loss a refund is often granted. With most payment service providers, according to Watchlist Internet, you have to show that you contacted the shop.
- Bank transfer. According to the consumer advice centre, a transfer you made yourself can no longer be reversed once the bank has executed the order. Usually not even a quick phone call helps, because many transfers are booked in real time.
With payment services such as PayPal, according to the consumer advice centre, buyer protection mostly applies to purchases of goods; the service’s terms decide. PayPal requires the report within 180 days of the payment date.If you are asked to pay by transfer after all, pay attention to your bank’s message about the account holder. What it means is explained in the article on Verification of Payee.
Before buying and after paying
- Reach the shop via the brand.
Type the brand name into the search yourself and do not follow a link from an ad. The manufacturer’s site says where it sells itself and whether there is an outlet. If it names none, ask the manufacturer.
- Check the address before you type anything.
Enter the domain in the shop check. You see how old it is, what the legal notice says and whether it is on a warning list. The browser protection shows a notice when you open a listed page.
- Check the discount yourself.
Compare the price on two price comparison sites. If the offer is far below all other retailers, ask yourself how the shop can afford that.
- Already paid: call your bank.
Call even if the transfer has probably been booked already. With a card payment, ask the card company for a refund. According to Watchlist Internet, it is often advisable to have the card blocked. The steps by payment method are under Already transferred money.
- Secure evidence and file a police report.
Screenshots of the shop, the ad and the order summary, plus emails and the bank statement, see Securing evidence. The online police station of your German federal state is listed under Reporting offices, the process in the article Reporting a fake shop.
What else is currently being reported is under Current scams, the general warning signs under Spotting a fake shop.
