When shopping online, it’s easy to get drawn in by flashy advertisements and seemingly great deals. However, not every website should be trusted right away.
In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at stloutlet1913.com to help determine if it could be a scam or not. Understanding how to spot potential red flags and do your research is key to making informed purchasing decisions online.
Table of Contents
Background of stloutlet1913.com Scam
Let’s start with the basics.
Stloutlet1913.com sells a variety of Stanley vacuum-insulated drinkware like tumblers and bottles. At first glance, the site looks professionally designed with detailed product pages and shopping cart functionality.
They advertise free shipping on orders over $20 and offer deals like “buy two get one free” or “buy three get two free.” So on the surface, it seems like a normal online retailer.
However, upon closer inspection, some suspicious signs started to emerge that warranted further investigation. The about and contact pages provided little meaningful information about the actual business.
The website address itself, using a combination of numbers and letters, seemed a bit unconventional. And searches for reviews of the site turned up very little actual customer feedback. These were obvious warning signs that more research was needed before making a purchase.
stloutlet1913.com Domain Registration Details
To gain more insight, I looked up the domain registration details for stloutlet1913.com using WHOIS lookup services. Here’s what I found:The site was registered only 10 months ago in May 2022, which is relatively new. Legitimate stores tend to have domains registered for longer periods.
The They hid registrant information using a privacy protection service. This is atypical for real businesses and could indicate the owners want to stay anonymous.
No physical address, phone number, or company details were listed in the registration. Again, reputable stores typically provide transparent contact info.A search through historical WHOIS records showed the site quickly changed name servers, another potential red flag.
So the domain itself raised cause for concern. Newly registered domains with obscured ownership information hosting online stores is a telling sign of a potential scam site. Let’s move on to analyzing other elements.
Products and Pricing Analysis
I took a closer look at the actual products and pricing offered on the site:Prices seemed too good to be true compared to other retailers. For example, a tumbler sold for $5.99 when it retails for around $20 elsewhere.
Many listings claimed products were “limited edition” but provided no proof of authenticity or licensing from Stanley.Some photos and descriptions were copied verbatim from legitimate suppliers without attribution.
Upon selecting options like color, it said the “gift” color was random. But these were simply tumblers, not gifts.Attempting to add to cart or check out resulted in generic error messages, not actual order confirmations.
This level of analysis revealed the products were likely fake or nonexistent. Real discount retailers don’t undercut reputable brands by such a large margin without reason. The questionable wording and inability to checkout also signaled this was more of a phishing site than real online store.
Site Structure and Security Issues
I inspected the website more closely:Clicking around revealed it was a very basic, simplistic site built without much care for usability. No secure HTTPS protocol was used, posing security risks for entering payment details.Contact and about pages had generic templates rather than custom information.
Images and CSS/code files were poorly optimized, a sign of low quality development.Pages had inconsistent layouts and errors loading on different browsers/devices.
Well-established retailers use improved content management platforms that ensure high performance, security, and consistent user experience across platforms which was clearly lacking here.
Search for Reviews and Trustworthiness
My final research step was searching online for any independent reviews of stloutlet1913.com:
Google searches turned up nothing substantial, no customer feedback.
Looking on third party review sites also yielded no results.
They did not list website domain on the Better Business Bureau, another red flag.
Searching discussions on scam alert forums produced some warnings the site was potentially fraudulent.
Legitimate stores will always have a paper trail of consumer reviews from sites like Google, Trustpilot and BBB due to their longer operating history. A complete absence can be a telltale sign of a fly-by-night operation.
Conclusion – is stloutlet1913.com Scam or Legit
After evaluating multiple factors like domain details, product/pricing anomalies, site structure issues, and lack of reviews, the conclusion is stloutlet1913.com shows clear warning signs of being a scam site. Some key signs that raised alarms include:
- Newly registered anonymous private domain
- Prices too good to be true without reason
- Inability to actually complete purchases
- Basic template-like site design lacking care
- Zero independent customer feedback found
- Lack of HTTPS, contact info, reviews, etc.
While it’s impossible to say 100%, the evidence heavily suggests this is a fake storefront designed to steal payment information rather than provide genuine products at steep discounts.
Best practise is always research any unfamiliar retailer thoroughly before spending money online at lesser known stores. With diligence, consumers can much more safely navigate potential scams and make smarter shopping choices.
