Safe Online Shopping: A Kid's Guide

What is an online shopping trick?

Shopping online can be fun. You can look for toys, games, clothes or presents without leaving your home. But sometimes, there are tricksters who try to sell things that are not real. They might show pictures of cool stuff, but then never send anything after you pay.

Some websites, apps or messages are made to look real, but they are just pretending. These tricks are called scams, and they can happen to anyone.

Cute cartoon purple bird with big eyes and orange beak and feet.

Why do you need to know this?

Here are some ways tricksters try to fool people:

They make fake websites that look like real shops
They put adverts on apps or games showing things that are very cheap
They post items on selling pages with fake reviews that say “This is amazing!”
They say things like “Only one left!” or “Sale ends soon!” so you rush to buy

These tricks are made to get people excited and make them click too fast.

What should you do before buying something online?

If a message or phone call feels strange, stop and check.

Before you click "buy", here is what we want you to remember:

Stop and think – If something looks way too cheap or sounds too good to be true, it might be a trick
Ask an adult – Never buy anything without checking with someone you trust
Look at the website name – Some fake websites look very close to the real one but have little changes, like “amaz0n.co” instead of “amazon.co.uk”
Look for the returns and contact info – Real shops usually have a way to return things and show who they are

Always use safe ways to pay. Ask an adult to help you use a card or a trusted app. Do not use gift cards or send money in strange ways.

Keeping your shopping accounts safe

If you use a shopping app or website, keep it safe:

Use a strong password and do not share it
Make the password different from your game or school logins
Turn on extra safety steps, like needing a special code to log in

Some scammers use photos they have copied from real websites. If the same picture shows up on lots of different websites, it might be fake.

What if you have already been tricked?

If you or your family bought something and it turned out to be a scam:

Tell an adult right away
Ask them to call the bank or payment app
Report it at actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040
If the scam came in an email, forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk
If it was on a shopping app or social media site, ask an adult to report it there
Change your password for that app or website
Watch your account in case anything strange happens