Shopping online is convenient and fast, but every year thousands of Italian consumers are scammed by fraudulent e-commerce sites that collect payments without ever shipping the merchandise. ShopSicuro was created to provide everyone with a free, instant, and independent tool to verify the reliability of an online store before making a purchase.

How ShopSicuro Works

The process is simple: the user enters the website address to be checked, and the system automatically performs 12 independent technical checks, divided into three levels of analysis. The first level examines the domain’s infrastructure: registration age, SSL certificate, DNS configuration, and server geolocation. The second level analyzes the page’s content: presence of a VAT number, required legal pages, available payment methods, text quality, and pricing patterns. The third level queries international security databases such as Google Safe Browsing and VirusTotal, as well as an internal database of sites already flagged and confirmed as scams.

A traffic light system to help you decide

The result is summarized in a score from 0 to 100 and a three-color traffic light system. Green indicates that the site has no obvious issues. Yellow flags elements that need to be verified and advises caution. Red indicates significant risk signals and advises against making a purchase. Details of each individual check are visible in the report, so consumers can understand exactly which parameters influenced the score.

Who’s Behind ShopSicuro

ShopSicuro is a project of the iConsumatori Federation, carried out by the associations A.E.C.I. APS and Konsumer Italia with support from the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy as part of the “Squadra Antifrode” program. It is not a commercial service: it is a consumer protection tool that is free, requires no registration, and contains no advertising.

More Than Just Verification: Assistance, Too

If the verification results confirm your suspicions, ShopSicuro also provides the tools to take action. From the results page, you can report the site, download pre-filled complaint forms, and request assistance from the iConsumatori Federation’s team of lawyers and consultants. The system also automatically notifies the management team when a site receives multiple reports, triggering a manual verification process that may lead to its inclusion on the public blacklist.

QR Codes, Too

ShopSicuro also includes a QR code scanner. QR codes are increasingly used in scams—stuck on flyers, parking meters, menus, or fake payment notices—to direct victims to fraudulent sites. With ShopSicuro, you can scan a QR code with your smartphone’s camera and check where it leads before visiting the site, immediately receiving a reliability rating.