Online shopping safety: How to verify vendors and marketplaces

Consumers are advised to take specific precautions when shopping online to avoid fraud and ensure the legitimacy of e-commerce vendors. A key step involves verifying company details such as the business name, registered office, and contact information, which should be clearly listed in the website's footer or legal sections.

In Italy, the Agenzia delle Entrate provides tools to verify the validity of a VAT number (Partita IVA). However, users are cautioned that a valid VAT number does not inherently guarantee that the website actually belongs to the registered entity.

When using online marketplaces, buyers should remain vigilant because these platforms host various sellers with differing levels of reliability. Risks include inaccurate product descriptions, difficult returns, or sellers attempting to move transactions outside the official platform. Users should avoid paying via bank transfers, top-ups, or external links to ‘save on commissions,’ as staying within the marketplace's official payment system provides better documentation and consumer protections.