Govt warns shoppers against fake festive sale offers and fraudulent shopping websites, here is how to stay safe

The festival season has arrived in India, and all the major e-commerce brands are already running festive season sales, where they are offering big discounts, special offers and exciting deals on various devices across categories. However, not every attractive offer during the sale is genuine, and the government has recently warned citizens about the same. The authorities pointed out that the scammers are using the names of popular brands, familiar logos and product pictures to trick people into visiting fake shopping websites, and while these websites may look real, they are designed to steal money or misuse personal information. Here is what the government says and how to stay safe against fake festive sale offers.

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What did the government say?

CyberDost I4C has recently shared a post on its official page where the government cautioned people against fake shopping advertisements that use popular brand names to make fraudulent offers appear genuine. In the post the authorities mentioned how scammers create advertisements featuring familiar logos, product images and sale designs to attract shoppers looking for festive discounts.

Popular shopping brands के नाम पर दिखने वाला हर festive offer genuine नहीं होता https://t.co/IkmjfTNqDl

— CyberDost I4C (@Cyberdost) October 21, 2026

The advisory further notes that clicking on these advertisements may take users to websites that closely resemble the official platforms of well-known brands. However, these websites could be fraudulent, and any payment made through them may go directly to scammers.

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How to stay safe against fake festive sale offers

If you are confused about how you can protect yourself from such scammy festive sale offers, then let me inform you that it is very easy. You should always check the URL of the website before you start your shopping session. Always try to avoid clicking advertisements or any unknown source sharing links.

In case you get to know about an offer from some platform, instead of clicking on the same, you should visit the official website or app of the e-commerce platform for verification. Apart from this, while visiting a website via search engines, be careful not to click on sponsored links in the search results.

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Make sure that you do not make any advance payments on new sites where sellers or deals are not verifiable. Look for cash on delivery options so that you can check the products you received.