Dropshipping Fraud | 6 Characteristics of Fake Sites Published by the Consumer Affairs Agency and 1 Decisive Difference

When you say "selling without holding inventory," it is sometimes treated the same as fraud.

Selling items you don't have on hand and receiving money first. Looking only at the literal meaning, they certainly seem similar.

This article explains three things: what the Consumer Affairs Agency actually cited as characteristics of fake sites, how dropshipping differs from those points, and which one item dropshippers actually fall into.

On August 4, 2026, the Consumer Affairs Agency named three sites.

They pretend to sell limited-edition items at bargain prices, take the payment, and then never ship the products.

The Consumer Affairs Agency issued a warning, stating that many such consultations had been received by consumer affairs centers across the country since January 2026.

The three sites named were "Ryuno-no," "STORE Specialty Shop," and "Sie Market Store." Even their domain names were made public.

The items handled were golf bags, game-related goods, and out-of-print books. They were all items that are difficult to obtain.

Source: [Consumer Affairs Agency August 4, 2026 Warning](https://www.caa.go.jp/notice/entry/047056/) / [INTERNET Watch](https://internet.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/2131148.html)

There are 6 published characteristics.

I realized something after lining them up.

5 out of the 6 have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not there is inventory.

Unnatural Japanese. Foreign domains. Personal bank accounts. Inducing users to LINE under the guise of a refund and requesting remote control. Prices far removed from market rates.

These are all characteristics of the "side that has no intention of shipping." It is not a matter of inventory.

There is only one decisive difference.

Fake sites do not procure items even after receiving an order.

Dropshipping involves procuring and shipping items after receiving an order.

Even though the form of receiving money first is the same, what is done afterward is the exact opposite.

Shopee official also has a [guide page for dropshipping](https://shopee.jp/column/shopee-dropshipping-guide/), and it is a sales method recognized by the platform itself. What is prohibited is not dropshipping itself, but the inability to fulfill orders. That is why it is managed by metrics such as shipping delay rate and order fulfillment rate.

If you cannot ship, you get suspended. That is all there is to it.

However, there is one item that truly applies.

"Repurposing images and descriptions from flea market sites"

This is something dropshipping sellers do inadvertently.

Since they do not have the product on hand, they cannot take photos. So they paste the images from the supplier as they are. They also copy the descriptions.

Having spent three months dealing with Shopee listings, I believe this is the area that looks the most gray.

There are issues with rights, but even before that, from the buyer's perspective, the appearance becomes exactly the same as a fake site.

It is cheap. The photos are the same as elsewhere. The description is also text seen somewhere else.

It is impossible not to be suspicious.

Therefore, there is one thing that can be fixed on the listing side.

Replace even just one image. Rewrite the description in your own words.

With just this, the last of the six characteristics disappears.

Dropshipping just means not holding inventory; there is nothing to feel guilty about as a business. What looks suspicious is usually just the parts where corners were cut.

For those who want to know the buyer's perspective, this explanation is easy to understand.

The agility of not holding inventory comes as a set with being easily suspected.

The work of erasing that suspicion is the most understated part of listing, and the most effective.

I have written everything about the process of actually turning dropshipping into a system here.

Rob

#SideHustle #Dropshipping #Shopee #CrossBorderEC #ProductSales #ConsumerAffairsAgency