42shops.com is a deceptive website that offers to buy stuffed toys at unusually discounted prices. It may appear as a discounter, or as a marketplace for warehouse liquidation items, but it is in fact just a ploy to make you think this site is legitimate. After ordering goods from this site, you will likely get nothing at all, or, at best, inferior or counterfeit items.
In this article, I will highlight the warning signs regarding the 42shops.com store, the way this deception operates, and explain how to detect similar scams. This will help you to avoid similar shopping frauds in future.
42shops.com Site – Scam Overview
As I said, 42shops.com may initially seem like a authentic discounter or the seller of stock liquidation items. But a short analysis shows a disturbing amount of red flags that indicate clearly about this site’s dishonesty. Questionable advertising methods, excessively low prices, lack of customer support and customer testimonials – this site completes the scam bingo right away.
| Website | 42shops.com |
| Hosting | AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. Canada, Ottawa |
| IP Address | 23.227.38.65 |
| Threat Type | Scam/Fraud |
| Scam Type | Fraudulent/Scam online shop |
42shops.com Scam
By purchasing items on sites like 42shops.com, it is improbable that you will acquire the items you’ve ordered. More frequently, it results in one of 3 instances characteristic for scam sites.
Counterfeit goods. Not the worst option, as you get at least something. But as it usually happens to counterfeit items of popular brands, the attribute will be inferior, to say the least. Eventually, the site may indicate about that somewhere deep in the item description or “about us” page, but users rarely check them thoroughly. This is a particularly common case when ordering from pages that promote baubles, small electronics and stuff the like.
Wrong item. To make the trade look real, but spend even less money on the actual item, cheats may send a accidental item they have instead of what you’ve ordered. A worn t-shirt instead of a brand new one, a dirty aluminum platter instead of a set of dishes – frauds may turn really inventive in that case.
Nothing at all. This is the most typical scenario when ordering from pages like 42shops.com. Scams take your money, promise the delivery, and then merely disappear. As scams are not going to exist for a long time, fraudsters are not wasting effort creating even a slight visibility of legitimacy.
42shops.com scam – How does it work?
As any fraud, 42shops.com runs a simple and well-proven scheme of operations. It usually consists of 3 stages, with certain deviations from time to time.
Step 1 – Attract the Masses. Frauds post massive amounts of marketing on online platforms, particularly preferring Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Paid ads say exactly the same things as the websites do: 90% discounts, free delivery around the world, hurry up to get the deal.
Ads of fraudulent shops posted on different platforms
As users consider ads on the mentioned platforms benign, they do not doubt anything at this point. Ads become especially persuasive during major events that boost people’s interest in shopping, like Halloween, Black Friday, Christmas, etc. Sometimes, they disguise themselves as resellers of the liquidated stock of bankrupt retail companies.
Step 2 – Take the Money. Once consumers are on the site, scammers do their best to make the users buy something. Mind-boggling deals, additional discounts, free shipping, bright and blinking “Order Now” buttons that are just everywhere – they use every single method possible. And this works out – uninformed individuals stick to the offers and proceed to paying for the order.
Payments are done in a unusual manner. Instead of more classic options for online shopping, like Visa/MasterCard payments or PayPal, tricksters offer using direct bank transfers, Venmo or CashApp. Thing is, the latter do not provide any refunds, regardless of the circumstances. Even when you can prove that the transaction went to tricksters, “no refunds” is a part of their policy which you agree on upon registration.
Step 3 – Vanish. Once scoundrels get enough money, or – what is more likely – there are enough complaints and user reports about the site being fraudulent, they simply vanish. Usually, this happens at around the 2nd or 3rd week of the site activity. Once enough people know about the fraudulent activity, the money flow will dry up, leaving scammers with no motivation to move on. Reporting the scam to the domain hosting helps take the domain down pretty quickly.
Why is 42shops.com a Scam?
Well, we just talked about the way the scam site operates. Now, let’s see how to understand whether the site is deceptive without risking your money. Fortunately, scams do not bother themselves with creating well-rounded disguises, so the same red flags repeat from one site to another.
1. Fake or absent reviews
Scam websites aim to exist for 1-2 weeks, so there’s no reason (and way) to make any online reputation with user reviews. Obviously, even legit shopping sites will lack buyer opinions when they have just started, since there were not many patrons yet. For that reason, this sign is not stand-alone and must be confirmed with other signs or indicators.
Definitely not generic comments generated by AI
However, when you face phishy-looking reviews that have nothing to do with what the site sells, that’s definitely not a good sign. Any indistinct or absurdity reviews that may describe any item sold on the site should be taken with a grain of salt. And well, on fraudulent websites you will get an entire saltcellar. Always search for reviews on Google – this may save your money.
2. Unbelievably high discounts/low prices
No merchants will sell goods at loss for themselves. 70%, 80%, 90% reductions are not feasible even during sales events such as the aforementioned Christmas. In some cases, dishonest sites have the initial price low without saying anything about discounts, but they will most likely be outrageous, like $30 for a bed or $10 for a branded leather bag. Goods may be sold for cheap, but every sell-off has its sane limits.
3. No customer support.
That factor distinguishes deceptive sites from the legit ones, even newly established. When a site is about to defraud the buyers, there’s no need to waste time on answering their questions. Check out the “About us” or “Info” page – the page will likely have no contact info at all.
Typically for fraudulent sites, the “About us” column is completely empty
When they offer a contact email, or even a phone number to reach them out, there is a huge chance that these numbers and emails will be dead silent to your request. This, or they will answer you with generic text regardless of your inquiry.
As scammers often reuse phone numbers and email addresses for specifying them as “support”, you can search them on Google. When they are mentioned on a completely different site, be sure that this is a blatant scam.
A chain of scam sites that use the same “support email”
4. Payments via payment systems that does not support refunds
This scam indicator is not a guarantee, as there are plenty of benign shops and services using direct bank transfers, CashApp, Venmo or payment systems like them. All of them though have the same pitfall I’ve already mentioned above: these methods do not suppose any refund options. And this is what attracts scammers – once you paid for the order, there’s no way to get the money back.
Some websites may also offer payments in cryptocurrency, which is even less controllable than aforementioned payment methods. While cryptocurrency transactions expand their presence slowly, they still remain a beloved bay for different scams.
5. Items’ images are sourced from another page
As rascals most likely don’t have any goods, they are not able to create unique pictures. Thus their option is to hijack these images elsewhere. When scammers offer identical goods on different websites, you can find such images on similarly-looking fraudulent sites. By reverse image searching on Google, you can prove the uniqueness of an image.
Image duplicates on another scam site, as well as on Amazon and Walmart sites
6. Design repeats the one of a different page
This is the continuation of the stolen images I’ve just described. As rascals may use the same topic again and again, they use the same web design under the new web-address, and voila – a new scam is ready to rock-n-roll! In some cases, image search on Google advice from the previous paragraph may lead you to the identical copy of the page you’ve started on. It allows you to uncover such scams particularly easy, but criminals who run them never aim at cautious users.
Example of scam sites that duplicate each others’ design
Is your PC infected?
There are cases when 42shops.com site, together with similar scam sites, are promoted by malware. Adware and browser hijackers are two particular malware types that aim specifically at such purposes. If you notice excessive ads in your browser, have your search queries going into an unusual search engine and some random pages open time to time, consider scanning your system with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This will help you to get rid of annoying promotions and scam sites.
Remove malware with Gridinsoft Anti-Malware
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Frequently Asked Questions about the 42shops.com Scam
42shops.com operates as a scam website that pretends to be an online store selling various items at low prices. However, it is involved in fraudulent activities and aims to deceive customers by sending counterfeit or inferior products or not delivering anything at all.
There are several indicators that point at fraudulent nature of 42shops.com shop. To begin with, 42shops.com shop recently established its online platform, which is a common characteristic of short-lived scam websites that rapidly disappear. Second, the webpage lacks contact information such as a telephone number, physical address, or instant messaging option, making it difficult to tackle problems or queries. Thirdly, it provides fake company details, giving no real details about the organization behind the webpage. Additionally, this fraudulent scheme entices shoppers with unrealistic rebates and sales offers, cutting prices by over 70% or even 90%. Furthermore, 42shops.com reproduces content and merchandise visuals from legitimate web shops like Alibaba, Amazon, and Aliexpress, showing a shortage of innovation and credibility. Moreover, despite asserting to offer trendy and chic goods, the site lacks any social media presence or links to online networking platforms. Lastly, authentic client testimonials is completely absent, with reports of delayed or absent deliveries, poor customer service, defective or incorrect products, reimbursement difficulties, and unapproved transactions on credit cards.
No, it is not a legitimate or reliable website. The aforementioned red flags indicate that it lacks credibility and has been reported as a scam site. Customers have experienced receiving counterfeit products or facing difficulties in obtaining refunds or contacting the company.
Take the following steps if you have made a purchase on 42shops.com:
- Firstly, immediately contact your bank or financial institution if you paid with a credit card or debit card. Request them to cancel the transaction and initiate a refund. Additionally, report 42shops.com as a fraudulent site and urge them to block future charges from it.
- Promptly change your passwords if you have a 42shops.com account or use the same password for other online accounts. Consider enabling two-factor authentication to enhance security against hackers attempting to access your accounts and steal personal information.
- Beware of phishing emails related to your 42shops.com order. Treat any emails offering discounts or refunds as phishing attempts. Avoid clicking on suspicious links or downloading attachments that may contain malware. Delete such emails immediately.
- To prevent malicious ads, Trojans, phishing attempts, and other undesirable content, use a browser-based content blocker like AdGuard. This will complement your antivirus software and provide enhanced protection.
- If you suspect your device is infected with malware, scan it using Gridinsoft Anti-Malware to ensure your security.
No, 42shops.com does not have genuine customer feedback or testimonials. The absence of legitimate customer reviews further indicates its untrustworthiness and potentially fraudulent nature.
42shops.com Scam
Store Name: 42shops.com
Store Description: 42shops.com is an online store that has been identified as a fraudulent website involved in scam activities. It claims to offer a variety of stuffed toys, often at extremely low prices, to attract unsuspecting customers. However, numerous red flags and customer reports indicate that 42shops.com either sends counterfeit or inferior stuffed toys, or fails to deliver anything at all. The website lacks genuine contact information, company details, and social media presence. It has been found to plagiarize content and product images from legitimate online stores, further compromising its credibility. Due to these factors, it is strongly advised to avoid 42shops.com and similar websites to protect oneself from financial loss and potential scams.
Price range: $5 - $100
Address: no
Telephone: no
