Scam library

Shopping & Travel scams

Fake stores, marketplace no-shows, package fee texts and vacation rental cons — how to buy and book without losing money. There are 5 shopping & travel guides on Scam Wise.

All topics

Start here

Here are the cons that follow parcels, purchases and trips: a text saying a delivery is held until you pay a small fee, a seller who takes a deposit and disappears, a shop copying a brand it does not belong to, and a holiday rental advertised with photos that are not real. The guides suit anyone who buys online, books a flight or rents a cottage, and anyone helping a parent do the same. Fake Delivery and Package Fee Scams, Online Marketplaces and Shopping Scams and Travel Scam Safety cover the whole arc, from the message that starts it to the payment that ends it, and Holiday & Seasonal Scams shows the same tricks arriving with the calendar.

The habit that saves the most money is checking the order somewhere else before you pay. Look the seller up on the carrier's or the marketplace's own site or app, and pay by credit card rather than by wire, gift card or payment app.