Working with ecommerce businesses, I’ve seen how much attention goes into building a customer experience people can trust. From product information and website navigation to payment options and customer support, every interaction contributes to how customers recognize and understand a brand. But what happens when someone else uses that same brand identity to create an experience the retailer has no control over?

Fake online shops exploit precisely that familiarity. By copying names, logos, product images and storefront designs, fraudulent websites can make customers believe they are shopping with a retailer they already know.

On 8 October 2026, Dutch ecommerce association Thuiswinkel.org announced a new initiative designed to help retailers identify and respond to this type of fraud earlier. Called Thuiswinkel Scam Protectie, the service was developed in partnership with Dutch brand-protection specialist Brandsolo. According to Thuiswinkel.org, approximately 1.2 million people in the Netherlands fell victim to fraud involving fake online shops in 2025.

From reacting to complaints to identifying fraud earlier

Retailers may discover fraudulent websites impersonating their businesses only after customers report suspicious activity, question an unfamiliar offer, or complain about orders they never received. By that point, customers may have already shared personal information or made payments to a fraudulent operator.

The new Dutch initiative aims to move detection earlier in that process. Brandsolo’s technology continuously monitors websites and domains for signs of potential impersonation, including lookalike domains, copied storefronts and misuse of retailer identities. Thuiswinkel.org’s members can review suspicious websites through a dedicated portal, where alerts explain why a particular website has been flagged. Importantly though, an alert does not automatically establish that a website is fraudulent. Retailers still need to assess whether a detected website is a legitimate reseller, business partner or potential impersonator. When a suspicious website requires further action, businesses can investigate independently, use established reporting channels or request specialist assistance from Brandsolo.

The initiative also connects retailers with existing fraud-reporting mechanisms, including the Dutch police’s national internet fraud reporting system. The basic monitoring service is included in the Thuiswinkel.org membership offer, subject to activation, while specialist takedown assistance is available separately as a paid service. The service focuses on identifying suspicious websites and domains. It does not, as part of its basic monitoring package, cover fraudulent social media accounts, social media advertising or counterfeit products listed on marketplaces.

When a familiar brand becomes part of the deception

The problem extends beyond the immediate financial losses experienced by customers. When fraudulent websites imitate established retailers, they also borrow the credibility those businesses have spent years building. Customers may believe they are interacting with a legitimate business because they recognize its name, product photography, visual identity or familiar website elements.

Dutch retailer Zeeman, cited by Thuiswinkel.org, has previously encountered fraudulent websites using its name, logo and product images. For legitimate retailers, this type of impersonation can generate additional customer service enquiries, create confusion about which offers are authentic and raise concerns about reputational damage.

A customer who believes they have purchased from a familiar retailer may initially turn to that retailer for help when something goes wrong. The business may have had no involvement in the fraudulent transaction, yet its identity has become part of the customer’s negative experience. And that creates a difficult situation: retailers can control the messages and experiences they provide through their own channels, but they cannot always control where or how their brand identity is reproduced elsewhere online.

Protecting trust beyond the website

What makes the Dutch initiative particularly interesting is not simply the technology behind it. Brand-monitoring and fraud-detection services already exist. The difference here is the involvement of a national ecommerce association in making a basic level of specialist monitoring available through its membership offering. Thuiswinkel.org is extending its role beyond trust certification and consumer education to help participating retailers identify potential impersonation earlier.

That collective approach raises an interesting question for other European ecommerce markets, including those in Central and Eastern Europe. Could partnerships between national ecommerce associations and specialist technology providers make this type of protection more accessible to retailers that may not have the resources to monitor suspicious domains independently?

The Dutch service is not an EU-wide programme, and there is no indication that it is being introduced across other European markets. But the underlying problem is certainly not limited to the Netherlands. Customers encounter brands through search results, advertising, social media, marketplaces and links shared by other people. Not every interaction takes place on a retailer’s official website, and not every website displaying a familiar brand name is necessarily connected to that business.

For ecommerce businesses, this adds another dimension to the work of building a consistent and trustworthy customer journey. Clear product information, transparent policies, reliable communication, and a secure purchasing experience remain essential. But so does helping customers recognize the retailer’s genuine digital presence and understanding where they can safely interact with it. From my perspective, the Dutch initiative is a useful reminder that customer trust does not begin and end on a retailer’s own website. But it’s also shaped by the places where customers encounter that retailer’s identity, including those the business may not directly control.

Sources

• Thuiswinkel.org — E-commercesector gaat scamwebshops 24/7 opsporen en bestrijden, 8 October 2026.
• Thuiswinkel.org — Thuiswinkel Scam Protectie, official service information.
• Brandsolo — Brand protection and scam monitoring.

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Written by Iusti Ikert, Founder of In Between the Lines — a messaging and customer experience alignment studio for scaling product-led brands. I work with growing DTC companies to align brand promise, marketing, and operational delivery so they can scale without friction.

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