Scam Detective
Scam verdict · Educational pattern check
Scam Detective research desk · Updated October 2026
Real sale — fake site

Is That Going-Out-of-Business Sale Real? The Store Is Closing — the Website Isn't Theirs

The sale is real; the site isn't. Every real retail bankruptcy now spawns a wave of fake liquidation sites within days — BBB Scam Tracker documents them impersonating Bed Bath & Beyond, JOANN, Rite Aid, JCPenney, and At Home, riding social-media ads promising up to 90% off. Never reach a closing sale through an ad: type the retailer's real address into your browser, and pay by credit card so the chargeback path stays open. Ordered already and nothing came? Dispute the charge with your card.

Educational verdict from documented scam patterns — not a live report. For a 0–100 risk score on the exact link in your hand, run the checker.

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The record · Quoted verbatim

Straight from the source

The verdict stands on the public record — the line below is quoted verbatim from the source named under it.

“When a retailer declares bankruptcy or announces the closure of store locations, scammers waste no time setting up fake going-out-of-business and liquidation websites.”

— BBB Scam Alert, “How to spot a fake ‘going out of business’ sale.”

The durable question

Why this question never goes away

The going-out-of-business scam is a parasite on real news. The moment a retailer announces bankruptcy or store closures, fake liquidation sites go up — and BBB Scam Tracker reports name the impersonated targets: Bed Bath & Beyond, JOANN, Rite Aid, JCPenney, At Home. The pattern is consistent: ads on social media promising up to 90% off; a convincing site with blurry or distorted logos and a URL a letter or two off — or the brand name plus “closing” or “sale”; checkout sometimes stacking extra “discounts”; then a tracking number showing goods shipping from overseas though the retailer is North American. The endgame: nothing arrives, or junk arrives — and there's no refund and no one to contact. The defense is a five-second habit: never reach a closing sale through an ad. Type the retailer's real address into your browser. Pay by credit card. And a tell that works on physical stores too: under the BBB Code of Advertising, an “emergency” or “distress” sale running past 90 days must be substantiated — a store “closing” for a year is confessing.

The checklist

Five red flags — any one is enough

A closing-sale link arriving via social-media ad — the wave's documented delivery channel.
A URL a letter or two off the real one — or the brand plus “closing” or “sale” tacked on.
Up to 90% off the retailer's full catalog, with extra discounts stacked at checkout.
Tracking showing overseas shipment for a North American retailer.
No way to contact the “retailer,” and no refund — report it, then dispute the charge with your card.
What to do now

Your next three moves

1
Verify through a channel you open yourself — never reach a closing sale through an ad: type the retailer's real address into your browser and confirm the sale exists there. If the ad's URL is a letter or two off, or the brand plus “closing” or “sale,” you're on the fake.
2
Refuse the ask: no checkout on a site reached through a social-media ad — up to 90% off the full catalog, with extra “discounts” stacked at checkout, is the documented bait — and when you do buy, pay by credit card so the chargeback path stays open.
3
Report the fake site to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the BBB's Scam Tracker — and if nothing arrives, dispute the charge with your card. Paste the sale link into the $2 instant check for a 0–100 scam risk score before you buy.
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Follow-up questions

People also ask

The store really is closing — doesn't that make the sale real?

The sale is real; the site isn't. BBB Scam Tracker reports document fake liquidation sites impersonating Bed Bath & Beyond, JOANN, Rite Aid, JCPenney, and At Home within days of the real closure news. Type the retailer's real address into your browser instead of clicking the ad.

What does the fake closing-sale site look like?

Ads on social media promising up to 90% off; a convincing site with blurry or distorted logos and a URL a letter or two off — or the brand name plus “closing” or “sale”; checkout stacking extra “discounts”; then a tracking number showing goods shipping from overseas though the retailer is North American.

I ordered from a fake liquidation site — can I get my money back?

Dispute the charge with your credit card issuer — paying by credit card keeps the chargeback path open — and report the site to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the BBB's Scam Tracker. The “retailer” itself has no refund path and no one to contact; that's part of the pattern.

A physical store has been “closing” for a year — is that a scam too?

It can be: under the BBB Code of Advertising, liquidation and going-out-of-business sales are “emergency” or “distress” sales, and running one past 90 days must be substantiated. A store “closing” for a year is confessing.

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