Pew Research

Online Shopping Scams Are Rampant: How to Spot and Avoid Them If you’ve bought something online that never arrived, or paid through a peer-to-peer app for a product that turned out to be fake, you’re far from alone. A November 2025 survey by the Pew Research Center found that about a third of Americans — 33% — say they have personally experienced an online shopping scam. That’s a large enough share to make fraud prevention a basic skill for anyone who shops on the internet. ...

1 in 3 Americans Has Been Scammed While Shopping Online. Here’s How to Stay Safe. A new report from the Pew Research Center, published in November 2025, finds that roughly a third of U.S. adults say they have personally experienced an online shopping scam. That figure is a reminder that fraud is not a rare or distant problem — it touches a large share of consumers, and the risk is only rising during peak shopping seasons. ...

Nearly 1 in 3 Americans Hit by an Online Shopping Scam – Here’s How to Protect Yourself If you’ve ever bought something online that never arrived, or clicked a link in an email that turned out to be a phishing trap, you’re not alone. According to a November 2025 survey from the Pew Research Center, about one in three U.S. adults say they’ve personally experienced an online shopping scam. That number climbs even higher among younger adults and people who shop online frequently. ...

1 in 3 Americans Has Been Scammed Online – Here’s How to Avoid It Online shopping is now a daily habit for millions of Americans. But a new survey from Pew Research Center highlights a troubling trend: about one in three U.S. adults say they have been the victim of an online shopping scam. ...

One in Three Americans Has Faced an Online Shopping Scam: Here’s How to Protect Yourself Intro If you’ve ever clicked “buy now” on a suspiciously cheap item and later found the website vanished, you’re not alone. According to a November 2025 report from the Pew Research Center, about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That’s roughly 33% of U.S. adults who have lost money, received counterfeit goods, or had their payment details stolen after someone posed as a legitimate seller. ...

1 in 3 Americans Has Faced an Online Shopping Scam: Here’s How to Protect Yourself The convenience of buying everything from groceries to electronics with a few clicks has made online shopping a daily habit for millions. But that convenience comes with a real risk. According to a Pew Research Center survey published in November 2025, about a third of Americans say they have experienced an online shopping scam. That is not a small fraction of unlucky people—it is a widespread problem that touches nearly every demographic. ...

Online Shopping Scams Are on the Rise: How to Spot and Avoid Them If you shop online, the odds are not in your favor. According to a recent Pew Research Center report, about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That statistic covers everything from never receiving an item to having their financial information stolen after entering it on a fraudulent website. With another busy shopping season underway, it’s worth understanding how these scams work—and what you can do to avoid becoming a number. ...

About a Third of Americans Say They’ve Had an Online Shopping Scam Happen to Them – How to Avoid Becoming a Statistic If you’ve ever clicked “Buy Now” on a deal that seemed too good to be true, you’re not alone. A new survey from the Pew Research Center, published in November 2025, found that about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That’s roughly 33 percent of U.S. adults – a number that should give any online shopper pause. As holiday shopping and seasonal sales create more opportunities for fraud, understanding how these scams work and how to protect yourself is more important than ever. ...

Nearly 1 in 3 Americans Has Been Hit by an Online Shopping Scam — Here’s How to Avoid It If you’ve ever bought something online that never arrived, or paid for a “deal” that turned out to be a fake listing, you’re not alone. New research from the Pew Research Center shows that about one in three U.S. adults say they have experienced an online shopping scam. With the holiday season approaching, that number is likely to climb as scammers step up their efforts. ...

Nearly 1 in 3 Americans Report an Online Shopping Scam: How to Stay Safe Online shopping has become second nature for most of us, but with convenience comes risk. According to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey, roughly one in three U.S. adults say they have personally experienced an online shopping scam. That number is a reminder that fraud is not an edge case — it’s a common part of the digital marketplace. ...