Verification guide
How to check if a website is legit
Seven checks that tell you whether a site is a real business before you hand over money or personal details. Start with the free legit website checker below, then work down the list — no single check is proof on its own.
Run the checker
Paste the website address — or a phone number, wallet address or suspicious message — and get a verdict against the public scam registry in a few seconds.
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Want the standalone tool? Open the legit website checker.
7 checks that prove a website is legit
1. Check the domain against a scam registry
Start with the fastest signal: has anyone already reported it? Paste the address into the checker above. GACS matches it against the public scam registry and community reports. A match is decisive — a clean result is only the first of seven checks, never proof on its own.
2. Look up how old the domain is
Legitimate shops usually have a trading history. A domain registered in the past 90 days that presents itself as an established brand is the single most common scam-store pattern. Free WHOIS lookups show the creation date; our checker reads the same records automatically.
3. Verify the company behind the site
Real businesses are registered somewhere. Take the company name and number from the footer or terms page and search the official register: Companies House (UK), the SEC EDGAR database or your state's Secretary of State (US), or your national business register. No company details anywhere on the site is a serious warning sign.
4. Test the contact details
Email the support address and call the phone number before you order. A legitimate seller answers, or at least has a mailbox that accepts mail. Dead addresses, generic free-mail accounts, and contact forms that are the only way to reach anyone all point the same direction.
5. Check which payment methods are offered
Card payments, PayPal and established checkout providers all give you a route to dispute a charge. Bank transfer, cryptocurrency, gift cards and 'friends and family' payments do not. A site that only accepts irreversible methods — or pushes you toward them at checkout — is choosing methods you cannot reverse.
6. Read reviews off the site, not on it
On-page testimonials can be written by anyone. Search the domain name on independent review platforms, Reddit and your own social feeds instead. Look at the spread of dates: a burst of five-star reviews all posted in one week, with no history before it, is a bought review campaign.
7. Search the site's own text
Copy a sentence from the About or Returns page and search it in quotes. Scam templates are reused across dozens of throwaway domains, so the same paragraph often appears on sites with different names. Reverse-image search the product photos for the same reason.
Before you pay
- Pay by card or an established checkout provider so a dispute is possible. Card networks let you challenge a charge; a bank transfer usually cannot be recalled once it settles.
- Screenshot the product page, the price and the delivery promise before you check out. Scam stores edit or delete pages after the order.
- Never move the conversation to WhatsApp or Telegram to complete a purchase. Legitimate retailers keep the transaction inside their own checkout.
- In the United States you can confirm consumer-protection guidance and report problems at reportfraud.ftc.gov; online crime goes to IC3.
Reading the verdict
Confirmed scam — the address matches a confirmed entry in the registry. Do not pay, and do not enter details.
Reported as a scam — people have reported it, but it has not been confirmed. Treat it as unsafe until you can verify the company independently.
Suspicious — the address resembles a known brand or carries risk signals. Usually a look-alike domain; check the spelling character by character.
No reports found — nobody has reported it yet. Keep going with the seven checks above.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if a website is legit?
Run the domain through a scam registry check first, then verify seven things: domain age, a registered company name you can find on an official business register, working contact details, reversible payment methods, independent reviews away from the site, duplicated site text, and an HTTPS certificate issued to the domain you actually typed. A website is legit when it passes all of them, not when it passes one.
Is a padlock in the address bar proof a website is legit?
No. An HTTPS certificate is free and takes minutes to obtain, so most scam sites have one. The padlock only means traffic between you and the site is encrypted — it says nothing about who is on the other end. A missing padlock is a reason to stop; a present padlock is not a reason to trust.
What is the fastest way to check if an online shop is real before I buy?
Paste the address into the checker on this page, then check the domain's age and the payment methods at checkout. Those three take about a minute together and catch most fake stores. If the shop only accepts bank transfer, cryptocurrency or gift cards, stop there regardless of what anything else says.
What does it mean when the checker finds no reports?
It means nobody has reported that address to us yet. New scam domains are set up daily, so a clean result is the absence of bad news rather than a certificate of legitimacy. Work through the rest of the checks on this page before you pay.
I already paid a website that turned out not to be legit. What now?
Contact your card issuer or bank immediately and ask about a chargeback — card networks generally allow disputes within 120 days, and acting the same day gives the best outcome. Keep the order confirmation, screenshots and payment reference. Then report the address so the next person sees a warning.
Is a legit website checker free to use?
Ours is. The checker on this page is free, needs no account, and returns a verdict with the signals behind it. You can also check phone numbers, crypto wallet addresses and messages with the same tool.
Check another address
The same engine checks websites, phone numbers, wallet addresses and messages.
Sources & references
External sites referenced on this page, and the sections they relate to.
- ic3.govReferenced in: Before you pay
- reportfraud.ftc.govReferenced in: Before you pay
Don't stop at reading — check the thing you're worried about
Knowing the pattern helps. Running the check takes 15 seconds and is free.
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- The complete scam-fighting guide
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- How to check if a website is a scam
The 7-point deep-domain check.
Authoritative sources
Independent primary sources used to check and corroborate the guidance on this page.
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
Official US channel for reporting internet-enabled fraud and cybercrime.
- US Federal Trade Commission — ReportFraud
Consumer fraud reporting and published enforcement data.
- UK Action Fraud
UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
Canada's central repository for fraud reports and scam alerts.
