Reputable online shops: Use these tips to check shopping providers

Before you shop at an online shop, you should check whether it is serious. Because even if the appearance looks trusting to you, a fake shop can hide behind it. We therefore show you five tips to protect yourself against online fraud.

Reputable online shops have an imprint

Every online shop requires an imprint. If this is missing, you should not shop there under any circumstances.

• You can usually find the imprint at the end of the homepage.
• Here you should find the address of the company as well as information on how to contact us.

Read conditions in the terms and conditions of the online shop

• Check whether your data may be passed on to third parties. If this is stated in the terms and conditions, you should refrain from buying.
• You should also pay attention to the wording. If these are incomprehensible and general, this does not exactly speak for a serious online shop.
• The contact information should also be found here.

Seal of approval stands for the seriousness of online shops

If you find a certificate on the shop's website, it has been checked by a seal of approval provider. This gives you the certainty that certain services, such as warranty claims and customer service, will be provided.

• Quality certificates are for example "Trusted Shops", "internet privacy standards", "EHI Geprüfter Online-Shop" and "TÜV Shopping". You can find out more about these seals of approval on the Internet-Gütesiegel.de website.
• In addition, you can send an e-mail to the internet shop yourself to check whether the customer service actually answers competently.

Search online shop in the German company register

With a few exceptions, if a shop is not listed in the company register, it does not exist. Here you can call up the latest annual financial statements and thus assess whether your transfer is really secure.

1. To do this, call up the imprint of the online shop and copy the company name.
2. Now go to the website of Unternehmensregister.de and insert the company name into the search.
3. You can view the balance sheet under "Financial statements for the financial year ...".

Ensure secure encryption

A secure connection is essential when shopping online. With sensitive data such as your credit card numbers, you should pay particular attention to good encryption.

• SSL encryption is standard here. You can tell in your browser whether the online shop uses a secure method by the fact that a small lock appears to the left of the Internet address.
• Internet security packages can also prevent you from falling for fraud on the Internet.

As always, keep your eyes open when buying - especially on the Internet. Therefore, you should definitely know these rip-off sites.