Fake shops scam one in eight online shoppers in Germany

Nearly one in eight online shoppers in Germany has been scammed by fake online shops over the past two years, a new survey shows.

The survey was carried out by polling institute Forsa on behalf of Germany’s umbrella consumer group vzbv and made available to dpa.

Fraudulent websites mimic legitimate online stores, take payment – but the purchased goods never arrive.

Consumer advocates say major internet platforms such as Google and Meta must do more to protect users. Around half of the fake shops examined by the vzbv had placed ads on these platforms.

“Companies that make money from advertising cannot duck responsibility,” vzbv chair Ramona Pop said.

Stronger consumer protections are expected to be discussed on Thursday at the German Consumer Day conference in Berlin.

The representative survey was conducted between September 1 and 12 among 1,503 people aged 14 and over and has a statistical margin of error of three percentage points.