Is this store real?

You often can’t tell a fake store from its own pages. Pay in a way you can dispute if nothing comes: a credit card, or PayPal at checkout.

If it’s happening now

An ad shows a sale at a store you already know. Close the ad. Type the store’s address yourself, or open its app. If the sale is real, it’s there too. When JOANN was closing its stores in 2025, the real sale was in stores only. The online “JOANN” sales in ads were fake.

It’s a store you’ve never bought from. Before you type in your card:

• Search its name plus “scam” or “complaint.” Read what other sites say, not the reviews on the store’s own pages. No results doesn’t clear it: a store that opened last week has no complaints yet. Use the results to read about the store, not to find its site or phone number.
• Look up when its address was registered. Go to lookup.icann.org, type the store’s address (the name and its ending, like pellhamrowe-liquidation.shop), and press Lookup. Under Dates, find Created. If the shop says it’s been open since 1995 and the address was made last month, don’t buy. A recent date alone doesn’t make it fake.
• Compare the price with a store you know. Brand names at bargain prices can be counterfeit or stolen, the FTC says.

Then pay with a credit card or through PayPal at checkout, or don’t buy. Apple Pay or Google Pay with a credit card behind it counts as the card: the charge and the dispute go through your card company.

Checkout asks for Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, PayPal Friends and Family, a wire, gift cards, or crypto. Close the page, even if paying that way comes with a discount. The FTC says never to buy from a seller that insists on a payment app, a wire, gift cards, or crypto.

What to say

• I made this purchase myself, but it never arrived and the store won't answer. I want to dispute it as not received. They also have my card number, so please close this card and send me a new one. I need a case number.

• I made this purchase, but what came isn't what I ordered. I have photos and the ad. I'd like to dispute it. Do you need me to send the item back first?

• Where do I send this in writing, and what's the last day it can reach you?

If something already left your hands

Nothing came, or the store stopped answering. Call the number on the back of your card. Say you made the purchase and it never arrived. That’s a dispute, not a fraud report. On a credit card, follow up in writing so it reaches the card company within 60 days of the first statement that shows the charge. Send it to the address for billing inquiries on the statement, not the payment address. If you typed your card in, ask for a new one too: the store has the number, the expiration date, and the three digits on the back. Full steps: I paid with a credit or debit card.

What came isn’t what you ordered. A thin copy, the wrong item, something worth a fraction of the price. Photograph it next to the ad. Dispute it with the card company, or with PayPal if you paid there. Don’t accept the store’s partial refund first, and don’t pay to ship it back until the card company or PayPal tells you to.

You paid at a PayPal checkout. On paypal.com, go to the Resolution Center and click Report a Problem. Item never came: within 180 days of paying. Not what you ordered: within 30 days of delivery, or 180 days of paying, whichever comes first. If the store doesn’t fix it, escalate the dispute to a claim within 20 days of opening it, or PayPal closes it. A closed dispute can’t be reopened.

You paid with a debit card. Make the same call today and ask for a new card. A debit card has fewer protections than a credit card for an order that never came. Ask for the dispute anyway. If charges you didn’t make show up later, report them right away: the longer you wait, the more you can lose, and after 60 days from the statement that shows them, you can lose all of it.

You paid with Zelle, a payment app, Friends and Family, a wire, gift cards, or crypto. Contact your bank or that company today. For a wire or crypto, file at ic3.gov at the same time. Payments you sent yourself are often treated as authorized and often aren’t refunded. Ask for a reversal anyway, and get the answer in writing. If they refuse, file a complaint at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. Steps by method: I paid or sent money.

You made an account on the store’s site. If you used that password anywhere else, change it there.

Save the ad, the store’s pages, the order email, and the tracking page. Screenshots are enough. Do it today. Fake stores and their ads get taken down.

Then report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the FBI at ic3.gov. Report the ad too: tap the three dots on it and choose report.

Anyone who later offers to get your money back for a fee is running a second scam, even if they say they’re the FBI, IC3, the FTC, or a lawyer. IC3 doesn’t contact people to recover money. Someone offers to get my money back.

What it looks like

Pellham & Rowe, the home store at your mall, announced last month that it's closing every location. You tap a Facebook ad and this opens.

pellhamrowe-liquidation.shop/collections/final-sale

Pellham & Rowe

STORE CLOSING · FINAL DAYS
Everything must go. 70–90% off sitewide.

Linen Duvet Cover Set, Queen
$249.00 $29.99
Only 3 left at this price

Free shipping on orders over $49 · 30-day returns
Sale ends in 02:14:37

Pellham & Rowe really is closing. What do you do?

• Buy it with your debit card. It's only $29.99
• Buy it with a credit card. If it's fake, you can dispute it
• Type pellhamrowe.com yourself and look for the sale

Show the answers

• Wrong move Buy it with your debit card. It's only $29.99 The address isn't pellhamrowe.com. If the site is fake, the $29.99 is the small part: the site now has a card number that draws straight from your checking account, and debit cards come with fewer protections than credit cards.
• Okay Buy it with a credit card. If it's fake, you can dispute it You'd probably get the $29.99 back, after a dispute and a replacement card. Checking first takes a minute and avoids both.
• Best move Type pellhamrowe.com yourself and look for the sale In 2025, JOANN's real closing sale was in stores only. The online ones in Facebook, Pinterest, and Nextdoor ads were fake. If the store's real site has the sale, buy it there. If it doesn't, skip this page.

The store really closing doesn't make the ad real. Look for the sale on the store's own site, typed in yourself.

You're checking out at a shop you found through an Instagram ad. The card form says "Payment failed." A chat window opens.

Brightmoor Supply

7:52 PM

Hi, so sorry, our card processor is down today.

You can still get your order and we'll take 10% off. Your new total is $77.76.

Please send by PayPal to payments@brightmoorsupply.shop and choose Friends and Family so we don't pay fees.

You have PayPal. What do you do?

• Close the page and buy it somewhere that takes your card at checkout
• Send it by PayPal as Friends and Family. It's still PayPal
• Send it by PayPal, but choose Goods and Services

Show the answers

• Best move Close the page and buy it somewhere that takes your card at checkout The FTC says not to buy from sellers that insist on a payment app, a wire, gift cards, or crypto. A real store with a broken card form fixes the form. It doesn't need a personal payment from you.
• Wrong move Send it by PayPal as Friends and Family. It's still PayPal PayPal's Purchase Protection doesn't cover Friends and Family payments. If nothing comes, that protection doesn't apply.
• Okay Send it by PayPal, but choose Goods and Services That payment can be covered if nothing comes. But you'd be paying a store that just tried to steer you out of that coverage, and you'd likely end up in a dispute.

PayPal covers purchases, not Friends and Family payments.

You paid $64.99 through PayPal at checkout for a waxed canvas jacket from an ad. Three weeks later a thin polyester jacket came in a plastic mailer. You emailed the store.

Re: Order #WF20931

W

Wrenfield Outdoor <care@wrenfieldoutdoor.shop>

9:14 AM

Hi,

We are very sorry the item did not meet your expectations. As a goodwill gesture we can offer a 20% refund ($13.00) and you may keep the item.

If you prefer a full refund, please return the item unworn in original packaging. Return shipping is paid by the customer. Our returns center address will be sent after you confirm.

Please reply 1 for the 20% refund or 2 for the return address. Opening a dispute will delay your refund.

Best regards,
Wrenfield Customer Care

What do you do?

• Reply 1 and take the $13
• Open a PayPal dispute with photos of the jacket and the ad
• Reply 2 and mail it back at your own cost

Show the answers

• Wrong move Reply 1 and take the $13 That's $13 of $64.99 for a jacket you didn't order. PayPal's protection requires that you haven't agreed to a different resolution, so taking the offer can end your claim.
• Best move Open a PayPal dispute with photos of the jacket and the ad PayPal covers items very different from the ad, including counterfeits. Open it within 30 days of delivery, and escalate to a claim within 20 days if the store doesn't fix it. PayPal may make you ship it back at your cost, to the address it gives you.
• Wrong move Reply 2 and mail it back at your own cost People tell the FTC that orders like this often ship from China, and return postage costs so much that returning isn't worth it. Nothing guarantees a refund when it arrives. If PayPal needs it back, it will say where.

Open the PayPal dispute before you answer the store's offer. You have 30 days from delivery.

What the store will say

“Pay with Zelle, or PayPal Friends and Family, and get 10% off.” Those are the payments you can’t dispute the way you can a card. Leave.

“Our card system is down. Can you pay another way?” Same thing. Leave.

“Your order is delayed by high demand.” “It’s held in customs.” Sellers have to ship when they said they would, or within 30 days if they didn’t say. Your 60 days on a credit card count from the statement, not from the store’s last excuse. Call the card company before that runs out. If a text or email says you owe a fee to release it, don’t pay from the link. Track it on the carrier’s site, typed in yourself. More: a text about a package.

“It shipped. Here’s your tracking number.” A tracking number isn’t a delivery. If it never moves, or shows delivered to an address that isn’t yours, screenshot it and tell the card company.

“Keep it and we’ll refund 20%.” “Return it to our warehouse at your cost.” Talk to your card company or PayPal before you answer. With PayPal, agreeing to a different resolution can end your claim.

“Opening a dispute will delay your refund.” The store doesn’t decide your dispute. The card company or PayPal does.

What not to waste time on

The padlock or https in the address, a “secure checkout” badge, a returns policy, a U.S. street address, a phone number, careful writing, and five-star reviews on the store’s own pages. Real stores have all of these, and so do fake ones. The padlock means the connection is encrypted. Scammers encrypt their sites too, the FTC says.