One in Three Americans Has Been Scammed While Shopping Online: How to Protect Yourself

If you’ve ever bought something online that never arrived, or clicked a link in an ad and ended up on a convincing but fake checkout page, you’re far from alone. A new Pew Research Center survey found that about a third of U.S. adults say they have personally experienced an online shopping scam. That’s roughly 80 million people, and the numbers are even higher among younger adults and frequent social media users.

With holiday shopping and daily deals a constant part of modern life, it’s worth understanding exactly what these scams look like and how to avoid them.

What happened

Pew’s report, published in early December 2025, surveyed American adults about their exposure to a range of digital threats. The shopping scam question was straightforward: “Have you ever had an online shopping scam happen to you, or not?” Roughly 33 percent said yes. The research also found that younger adults (ages 18–29) are more likely to report being scammed than older age groups, and that people who use social media for shopping are at higher risk.

Other Pew studies have shown that a majority of TikTok users visit the platform for product reviews and recommendations, and that phone-based shopping is now common. Combined, these trends suggest that scammers have plenty of surface area to exploit.

Why it matters

Online shopping scams aren’t just small annoyances. They can drain bank accounts, expose credit card numbers, and lead to long-term identity theft. And because many scams involve social media ads, peer recommendations, or influencer promotions, they can feel more trustworthy than a random spam email.

Scammers have become good at mimicking real stores. They register domains that look like well-known brands (e.g., “nike-outlet.shop” instead of the real site), use professional-looking templates, and sometimes even simulate customer reviews. The typical pattern: you place an order, receive a tracking number that never updates, and then the seller disappears.

What readers can do

There’s no magic bullet, but a few habits significantly reduce your risk.

Stick with credit cards when possible. Credit cards offer stronger fraud protection than debit cards, Venmo, Cash App, or wire transfers. If a product doesn’t arrive or is clearly counterfeit, you can dispute the charge. Payment apps like Venmo are designed for person-to-person transfers, not merchant purchases, and often have no purchase protection.

Check the website carefully. Before entering payment information, look for:

  • An exact match on the URL (not a misspelling or extra word).
  • A physical address and phone number that you can verify independently.
  • Customer reviews from multiple sources, not just testimonials on the site itself.

Be skeptical of deals that seem too good to be true. A new iPhone for $200 or a designer bag at 90 percent off is almost always a scam. Scammers rely on the fear of missing out. Slow down.

Avoid shopping on public Wi-Fi. Public networks are easy for attackers to intercept. If you must shop on the go, use your phone’s cellular data or a VPN.

Think twice before clicking an ad on social media. Social platforms have weak verification for sellers. If an ad for a product appears on Instagram or TikTok, search for the brand independently rather than clicking through. Fake stores often run short-lived ads to collect payments before disappearing.

What if you’ve already been scammed? Act quickly:

  1. Contact your bank or credit card issuer to dispute the charge.
  2. Freeze your credit if you shared sensitive information like a Social Security number.
  3. Report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
  4. Change passwords for any accounts you used during the transaction.

Staying safe doesn’t mean staying offline

Online shopping is convenient and, for the vast majority of transactions, safe. The key is to bring the same caution you’d use in a physical store: don’t hand over money to a seller you can’t identify, don’t ignore warning signs, and know your rights.

Pew’s data is a reminder that scams are common—but they’re also avoidable. By understanding the patterns, you can shop with more confidence and less risk.

Sources

  • Pew Research Center, “About a Third of Americans Say They’ve Had an Online Shopping Scam Happen to Them,” December 2025.
  • Pew Research Center, “Online Scams and Attacks in America Today,” July 2025.
  • Pew Research Center, “For Shopping, Phones Are Common and Influencers Have Become a Factor,” November 2022.
  • Federal Trade Commission, ReportFraud.ftc.gov.