You’ve discovered a fake webshop mimicking your brand, and now your inbox is flooded with angry messages from confused, scammed customers.
These counterfeit sites can be so convincing, your customers may not even realize they’ve been duped. Whether their money was stolen or they received a cheap knockoff of your product, the result is the same: your brand’s reputation takes the hit.
You don’t have to let these copycats steal your revenue and erode your customer trust.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to report and take down fake webshops and protect your brand more proactively across the web.
Information you’ll need to take down a fake webshop
You’ll need thorough evidence and documentation that proves the site is committing fraud or violating your intellectual property (IP).
Gather and organize this information prior to contacting domain registrars, hosts, and other platforms. This will speed up the tedious manual reporting process and ensure accuracy in your reports for the best chance of a speedy takedown.
Here’s what you should collect:
- URL of the fake site: include the full domain name in every report.
- Evidence of fraud: Screenshots and URLs of counterfeit product listings, photos, and web pages that use your stolen IP, as well as examples of customer complaints about being scammed or receiving fake products.
- Proof of your brand’s ownership: including URLs and screenshots of your official website, trademark registrations, and copyright certificate documents.
- A short explanation of the violation: Describe how the fake site is misleading customers and misusing your IP.
- Contact details: Most platforms require an official point of contact for follow-up communication, which is usually also provided to the owner of the fraudulent site. Use a phone number and email address you check regularly and that can be shared without issue.
Who to contact to get a fake webshop taken down
Unlike social media platforms, which often have dedicated takedown forms, it can be much harder to figure out where and how to report a fake webshop.
Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all form for fraudulent sites. To improve your chances of fast and complete removal, it’s best to notify multiple channels of the violation.
For the fastest path to getting a fake site taken down (and deindexed from search engines), we recommend contacting the following parties:
- Domain registrar
- Hosting provider
- Search engines
- Marketplaces and payment platforms
- Legal professionals (if needed)
1. Contact the domain registrar
One of the first and most effective steps in removing a fake webshop is contacting the domain registrar. This is the company that registered the site’s domain name and IP address. Popular registrars include GoDaddy, NameCheap, and Dynadot.
While domain registrars don’t host the site’s content, they can suspend or disable the domain itself, cutting off access to the fake site entirely.
How to identify a fake webshop’s domain registrar
You can easily find the registrar of the fake website impersonating your brand using a public database search tool like Whois or ICANN.
These sites can provide registrar information, as well as additional public contact information for the website owner and host.
[ALT TEXT] Screenshot: Domain name search bar on the Whois homepage.
To use either site, simply enter the URL of the fake webshop into the search bar on the home page. This will then take you to a page that includes all the accessible information the site can identify.
Document all the information available, as any official contacts listed for the fake site can be sent a takedown notice.
How to submit a takedown request to a domain registrar
Most domain registrars have dedicated abuse teams and processes for reporting counterfeit sites.
To improve your chances of a successful takedown, always use the registrar’s official reporting form or abuse contact. These requests are prioritized over general inquiries.
Use the following quick links and instructions for reporting a fake webshop on some of the most common registrars:
GoDaddy – Complete the complaint form.
NameCheap – Send an email detailing the abuse to abuse@namecheap.com.
Dynadot – Submit an abuse form.
What to include in your takedown request
Even if the fake site’s infringement seems obvious to you, you’ll need clear, detailed evidence to convince the registrar or platform to take action.
When submitting your complaint, here’s what to include:
- Your contact information
- Description of the issue that clearly states the site is using your brand assets without authorization
- URLs and screenshots of the misuse with brief explanations when necessary
- URLs and screenshots of your original website and content for comparison
- Applicable registered trademarks or copyrights
- Accounts from customer complaints who were scammed or received counterfeit goods
Takedown tip: report infringement to increase urgency
While it can be hard to prove that a fake webshop is actively scamming customers, IP infringement is often more clear-cut.
Reporting an IP violation via a DMCA takedown gives your request legal weight and increases the likelihood of a prompt response.
If you can show that the site is using your logo, brand name, product images, or other copyrighted content without permission, that’s typically enough to warrant a takedown.
2. Contact the hosting provider
Whether or not the domain registrar responds, it’s also worth contacting the web hosting provider to increase your chances of full site removal.
Hosts can suspend or take down sites that violate their terms of service, especially for IP infringement or fraud, and they may act faster than registrars.
To identify the host, use tools like Hosting Checker or ICANN.
Look for the host’s abuse contact or report form, and include the same evidence you submitted to the registrar.
3. File complaints with search engines
While you wait for a full takedown of the site, filing an official complaint with search engines is an effective next step. If your complaint is approved, the site will be deindexed and won’t appear in search results.
While search engines can’t shut down sites, deindexing can drastically cut traffic and limit the site’s visibility almost immediately.
Deindexing prevents customers from landing on the scam site if they mistype your brand name or search for your products online.
Here’s how to report to major search engines:
- Google: Report spam, phishing, or malware to flag the site for deceptive practices or copyright violations.
- Bing: Submit a Copyright Infringement Report, or report a complaint through Microsoft.
4. Report to marketplaces or payment platforms
Stop fraudulent purchases by reporting the fake shop to the marketplace or payment processor they are using to handle transactions.
- If the shop operates on a marketplace like Etsy, eBay, or Amazon: use their official reporting tools to flag the listing or storefront for fraud or IP infringement.
- If the site is hosted on its own domain: visit the checkout page to identify the payment processor. Look for familiar branding or URLs from providers like Shopify, Stripe, or PayPal.
Once identified, you can submit a complaint directly through the platform’s abuse or fraud reporting process.
5. Consider legal options if needed
If filing reports isn’t working and you are unable to shut down the fake online store, escalate your response and submit notices with more legal weight.
Send DMCA takedowns to all parties
If the fake webshop is using your copyrighted images or website content, you can issue a DMCA takedown to have the infringing material removed. This can prompt faster action and lays the groundwork for legal escalation if needed.
While the process can be time-consuming, you should send DMCA notices to all parties connected to the site. This includes the domain registrar, hosting provider, site owner (if reachable), and any payment platforms, hosts, and marketplaces.
File a UDRP if the domain mimics your brand name
If the fake webshop’s domain name is similar enough to your trademarked brand name to be considered infringement, you can file a Uniform Domain-Name Dispute.
To file, you’ll need to submit a complaint to the appropriate approved dispute resolution provider. In your report, include evidence of your trademark ownership and demonstrate the domain was registered to infringe on and profit off your brand.
While effective, UDRP filings can be time-consuming and may require legal assistance, making them best suited for persistent or high-impact violations.
What to do when fake webshops keep coming back again and again
There’s no worse feeling than pouring hours of effort into a takedown, only to see the fake shop reappear days later. Counterfeiters can clone a site, change the domain name slightly, and resume tricking your customers before you even notice.
Manual monitoring and reporting can’t keep up, but automation can.
Protect your brand with Red Points’ AI-powered solution
Red Points’ advanced AI software scans the web 24/7, searching for counterfeit sites imitating your brand and flagging threats before they do damage.
The automated takedown process means infringing content is removed quickly, without draining your time or budget.
How Red Points automation helps:
- Detects lookalike domains and repeat infringers faster than manual tracking
- Sends takedown notices to domain registrars, hosts, and marketplaces automatically
- Continuously monitors for new threats, even after takedowns succeed
What’s next
Removing a fake webshop posing as your brand is no easy feat. It can take days to compile and send the appropriate forms and takedown notices to the proper channels, only for sites to reappear days later.
Stop stressing about counterfeit sites with Red Points’ automated solution. Identify and take down fake shops with ease in a streamlined, easy-to-use platform that does the heavy lifting for you.
Request a demo today to spend less time chasing counterfeiters and more time building your brand.
