Cnihou.shop is a fraudulent website that offers to buy items from Big Lots! at extremely low prices. This site may look like a discounter or a reseller of goods from stock liquidation, but it is actually just a narrative to make you think about this site as a legitimate one. After ordering from this site, you will most likely get nothing at all, or, at best, poor-quality or counterfeit items.
In this article, I will show the concerning indicators regarding the Cnihou.shop site, the way this scam operates, and show how to detect similar scams. This will help you to avoid similar shopping deceptions in upcoming times.
Cnihou.shop Site – Scam Overview
As I said, Cnihou.shop may initially look like a legit discounter or the seller of stock liquidation items. But a brief analysis shows a troubling amount of red flags that indicate clearly about this site’s dishonesty. Unfair advertising methods, extremely low prices, absence of customer support and user testimonials – this site completes the fraud bingo right away.
| Website | Cnihou.shop |
| Hosting | AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. United States, San Francisco |
| IP Address | 104.17.232.29 |
| Threat Type | Scam/Fraud |
| Scam Type | Fraudulent/Scam online shop |
Cnihou.shop Scam
By purchasing items on sites like Cnihou.shop, it is unlikely that you will acquire the items you’ve ordered. More typically, it results in one of 3 situations common for scam sites.
Counterfeit goods. Not the worst option, as you get at least something. But as it usually happens to imitation items of popular brands, the characteristic will be inferior, to say the least. Eventually, the site may notify about that somewhere deep in the item description or “about us” page, but users rarely check them thoroughly. This is a notably often case when ordering from websites that sell baubles, small electronics and stuff the like.
Wrong item. To make the deal look real, but spend even less money on the actual item, scammers may send a accidental item they have instead of what you’ve ordered. An old t-shirt instead of a new one, a dented aluminum dish instead of a set of dishes – scammers may turn really inventive in that case.
Nothing at all. This is the most usual scenario when ordering from sites like Cnihou.shop. Scams take your money, promise the delivery, and then just disappear. As scams do not aim to exist for a long time, scammers are not wasting time creating even a slight semblance of legitimacy.
Cnihou.shop scam – How does it work?
As any fraud, Cnihou.shop runs a simple and well-proven scheme of operations. It commonly consists of 3 stages, with certain deviations from time to time.
Step 1 – Attract the Masses. Scammers post huge amounts of marketing on online platforms, particularly preferring Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Paid ads say exactly the same things as their sites do: 90% discounts, free delivery around the world, hurry up to get the deal.
Ads of fraudulent shops posted on different platforms
As users regard ads on the mentioned platforms benevolent, they do not suspect anything at this point. Ads become especially compelling during major events that boost people’s interest in shopping, like Halloween, Black Friday, Christmas, etc. Sometimes, they mask themselves as resellers of the liquidated stock of bankrupt retail companies.
Step 2 – Take the Money. Once consumers are on the website, swindlers do their best to make the consumers buy something. Impossibly good deals, additional discount promo codes, free delivery, bright and blinking “Order Now” buttons that are just everywhere – they use every single method possible. And this works out – uninformed users 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, deceivers 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 swindlers, “no refunds” is a part of their policy which you agree on upon registration.
Step 3 – Vanish. Once crooks get enough money, or – what is more likely – there are enough complaints and user reports regarding the site being a scam, they just disappear. Usually, this happens at around the 2nd or 3rd week of the site activity. Once enough customers are aware about the deceptive activity, the profits will dry up, leaving crooks with no motivation to move on. Reporting the scam to the domain hosting speeds up the domain takedown.
Why is Cnihou.shop a Scam?
Well, we just talked about the way the scam site operates. Now, let’s see how to understand whether the site is fraudulent without risking your money. Fortunately, frauds 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
Fraud websites aim to exist for 1-2 weeks, so there’s no reason (and way) to make any online reputation with feedback. Obviously, even benign shopping sites will lack customer reviews when they have just started, since there were not many customers 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, once you face phishy-looking reviews that have no relation to what the site markets, that’s definitely not a good sign. Any obscure or balderdash reviews that may describe any item sold on the site should be taken with a grain of salt. And well, on dishonest websites you will get an entire saltcellar. Do not hesitate searching 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 trustworthy even during sales events such as the aforementioned Christmas. In some cases, fraudulent sites set the prices 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 at a low price, but every discount has its rational limits.
3. No customer support.
That factor distinguishes dishonest websites from the legit ones, even newly established. When a site is about to scam the buyers, there’s no need to bother about answering their questions. Check out the “About us” or “Info” page – the site will have no support contacts at all.
Typically for fraudulent websites, 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 possibility that these emails and numbers will be unresponsive to your request. This, or they will answer you with generic text regardless of your inquiry.
As scoundrels tend to reuse phone numbers and email addresses for specifying them as “support”, you can search them on Google. When they appear on a 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 complementary, as there are a lot of genuine services and shops using direct bank transfers, CashApp, Venmo or similar payment systems. All of them though have the same pitfall I’ve already mentioned above: they do not suppose any refunds. And this is what attracts scammers – once you paid for the order, there’s no way to get the money back.
Some sites may also ask for payments in cryptocurrency, which feature even less control. While cryptocurrency payments expand their presence slowly, they still remain a beloved bay for different scammers.
5. Items’ images are sourced from another page
As scams are unlikely to have any items on hand, they are not able to create unique images. Thus their only option is simply to hijack these images elsewhere. When frauds market the same goods on different pages, you can find same images on similarly-designed fraudulent pages. 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 scammers may scam people on the same topic again and again, they put the same web design under the new address, and voila – a new scam site is ready to rock-n-roll! In some cases, image search on Google advice from the previous paragraph may lead you to the copy of the original site. It allows you to unveil such scams particularly easy, but scammers who stand behind them never aim at cautious users.
Example of scam sites that duplicate each others’ design
Is your PC infected?
There are situations when Cnihou.shop website, 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 see excessive amounts of ads in your browser, have your search inquiries going into a different search engine and some random pages open time to time, consider scanning your device 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 Cnihou.shop Scam
Cnihou.shop 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 multiple indicators that point at fraudulent nature of Cnihou.shop shop. First and foremost, Cnihou.shop shop recently established its website, which is a frequent trait of brief fraud websites that rapidly disappear. Second, the website lacks ways to reach out such as a phone number, physical address, or instant messaging choice, making it challenging to resolve problems or inquiries. Thirdly, it provides counterfeit company details, offering no genuine information about the organization behind the webpage. Furthermore, this scam entices customers with exaggerated price cuts and sales offers, slashing prices by over 70% or even 90%. Moreover, Cnihou.shop plagiarizes text and item pictures from genuine online stores like Alibaba, Amazon, and Aliexpress, indicating a shortage of innovation and trustworthiness. Moreover, despite claiming to present trendy and fashionable products, the site lacks any online networking presence or links to social media platforms. Finally, real client testimonials is completely absent, with reports of delayed or missing deliveries, inferior client assistance, faulty or incorrect products, repayment difficulties, and unauthorized charges 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 Cnihou.shop:
- 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 Cnihou.shop as a fraudulent site and urge them to block future charges from it.
- Promptly change your passwords if you have a Cnihou.shop 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 Cnihou.shop 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, Cnihou.shop does not have genuine customer feedback or testimonials. The absence of legitimate customer reviews further indicates its untrustworthiness and potentially fraudulent nature.
Cnihou.shop Scam
Store Name: Cnihou.shop
Store Description: Cnihou.shop is an online store that has been identified as a fraudulent from Big Lots! website involved in scam activities. It claims to offer a variety of items, often at extremely low prices, to attract unsuspecting customers. However, numerous red flags and customer reports indicate that Cnihou.shop either sends counterfeit or inferior items, 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 Cnihou.shop and similar websites to protect oneself from financial loss and potential scams.
Price range: $5 - $100
Address: no
Telephone: no
