A fraud operation called DoppelCart is running more than 119,000 fake online shops — the largest documented fake-shop network ever found — to steal credit and debit card details from unsuspecting shoppers. Discovered by German cybersecurity startup Nebty, the network mimics 44,182 real brands by copying their product catalogs, branding, and images, sometimes pulling assets directly from the legitimate company’s own servers so the copies look authentic. Brands including SodaStream, CurrentBody, Daniel Wellington, and others each have more than 30 impostor shops. The sites are concentrated in the .SHOP top-level domain, making up 2.72% of all sites on that TLD. More than 105,000 of the shops were still active when Nebty ran its latest scans.
The network is tightly coordinated behind the scenes: 96% of DoppelCart shops share identical code and funnel stolen payment data through just 27 commerce back-ends. The main lure is heavy discounts — typically 40–65% off — to draw in bargain hunters. When a shopper enters card details at checkout, the information goes straight to the fraud operation rather than any legitimate seller. The previous record-holder for fake-shop networks, BogusBazaar, operated 75,000 sites and recorded an estimated 850,000 fraudulent transactions before being documented; DoppelCart is far larger and still growing.
How to check if you’re affected
Affected products include any purchase made at an unfamiliar online shop offering unusually steep discounts, especially on .SHOP domains or sites you found through social-media ads. If you’ve shopped at a new site recently and aren’t sure it was real: check your credit card or bank statement now for unexpected charges. Contact your card issuer immediately to dispute unauthorized transactions or request a replacement card with a new number. Before buying from any new shop, search the site name plus “scam” or “review,” check for a working customer-service contact, and be suspicious of any site with no history of real buyer reviews offering 50%+ discounts on brand-name goods.