Data sources

The Watchlist Internet provides its continuously updated list of fraudulent online shops. All websites listed on this list have been checked in advance by experts and identified as fraudulent.

Watchlist Internet also receives reports of online shops with numerous problems, such as customs costs and return shipping. The Detector points out the risk when placing an order and gives tips on which questions need to be clarified before placing an order.

All certified shops have successfully passed an intensive testing procedure according to the Austrian quality mark criteria and are re-tested annually. The cooperation with the e-commerce quality mark ensures that online shops are automatically displayed as trustworthy in the Fake Shop Detector.

In cooperation with the Swiss Quality Mark, certified shops are automatically marked as trustworthy. The certificate is awarded after the shops have been checked for usability, functionality and legal security.

The Trustmark Austria of the trade association is awarded to online shops after an examination by a certification body. These online shops are trustworthy.

Last update of the data: December 2020.

EHI-certified online shops are audited annually based on 200 individual criteria. These online shops are trustworthy.

Last update of the data: December 2020

When you shop online, you have no personal contact with the seller and can neither touch nor try out the product. So that you can still order without worries, the Trusted Shops quality seal shows you which online shop has earned your trust.

Last update of the data: December 2020

In cooperation with the Main Association of the Austrian Book Trade, the retailers listed on Buchhandel.at are displayed as safe online shops. This list of domestic bookshops is constantly updated and automatically incorporated into the Fake Shop Detector.

In cooperation with the electrical retailer Expert Austria, all members of this purchasing cooperative are displayed as secure online shops. Currently, there are more than 190 electronics shops throughout Austria.

Through a cooperation with the online price comparison platform Geizhals, all retailers listed on it are marked as trustworthy. The focus of Geizhals is on hardware and consumer electronics.

Onlineshop-Austria.at, operated by Edelweiss Digital, has set itself the goal of supporting Austrian small and medium-sized enterprises, because we can only strengthen our economy if we do not order from "online giants" but from Austrian online retailers. The goal is to create a uncluttered platform that makes it easier for potential customers to find suitable Austrian companies for their needs.

The safety logo for legal internet pharmacies is a guarantee for the online purchase of over-the-counter medicinal specialities authorised in Austria. The label serves as protection against counterfeit medicines and fraudulent internet pharmacies.

Last updated: February 2021

In the Mail Order Register, you can find pharmacies and other traders who are officially allowed to sell human medicines via the Internet. This gives you more transparency when trading medicines over the internet.

Last updated: February 2021

To make shopping at Austrian online retailers even easier, the trade association offers a directory of domestic webshops.

Last updated: December 2020

The directory of Austrian online shops from the Viennese city newspaper "Der Falter". All webshops included in the Fake Shop Detector in this list have been checked by us beforehand.

Last updated: October 2021

Every unknown website is assessed by artificial intelligence. This risk assessment is checked again by our team and the Fake Shop Detector database grows. Online shops on this list do not carry a quality mark and are not on any of the above lists, but they are trustworthy.

This ensures that no online shop is overlooked!

The Austrian Online Shop Directory is intended to connect e-commerce traders and customers in order to sustainably strengthen the domestic economy, also in the long term and in the time after the crisis.