AliExpress is one of the biggest online marketplaces in the world. It lets vendors list millions of products, ranging from interior details and clothing to tech items and even software licenses. But among so many vendors and product options, you might sometimes run into some duds — or worse, scams. Although the platform itself is legitimate, you should nevertheless watch out for suspicious and malicious sellers. Let’s go over finding the right listings on AliExpress, what scams are popular, and how you can keep your financial information safe as you shop.
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Key takeaways:
AliExpress is legit and safe to buy from. The platform has buyer’s protection policies in place and holds your payment until you confirm the item arrived as described. Sellers never see your card details — but you should still watch out for individual scams.
AliExpress keeps prices low by cutting out the intermediary. You often buy directly from manufacturers, and heavy competition between sellers listing similar products pushes prices down further.
Know the common scams before you shop. Watch for fake seller profiles, counterfeit goods, suspiciously cheap brand-name tech, misleading descriptions, fake refunds, requests to talk outside the platform, and brushing scams.
Vet the sellers before you buy and read all listings and their reviews carefully. Buy only from listings with verification badges and skip deals that look too good to be true.
Protect your AliExpress account. Use a strong, unique password and turn on two-factor authentication to secure your personal data.
Consider adding an extra layer of security with a password manager. Tools like NordPass can securely store your card details, generate strong passwords, handle two-factor codes, and scan breach databases for your information.
What is AliExpress, and why is it so cheap?
AliExpress is a business-to-customer (B2C) online retail marketplace owned by the Alibaba Group. Launched in 2010 in China, it has since become one of the biggest global online marketplaces. AliExpress is not a retailer itself. Instead, it acts as a platform for third-party sellers and vendors to stock their products.
Over the years, AliExpress has developed a reputation as a platform with significantly lower prices than its competitors. As a customer on AliExpress, you often get to buy directly from the manufacturer without intermediaries. This shortens the supply chain and cuts out a lot of additional costs. Many sellers list similar or identical products which also keeps the prices competitive.
Is AliExpress safe to buy from?
Like most other major business-to-customer e-commerce platforms, AliExpress is safe to buy from and has legitimate buyer protection put in place. AliExpress handles all payments, so the seller can't see your card information. Your money is held via the secure payment service until the item you purchased arrives and you verify that it’s in good condition and as described. If the item doesn’t look like what you bought, you can file a request to return or refund it. The return policy is valid within 15 days of you receiving the item.
Despite the built-in protection measures, you might still come across scam sellers on AliExpress. These users might sell counterfeit goods, create false listings, or sell used items as new. You can report suspicious or fraudulent sellers on the platform. However, with thousands of sellers and millions of products, tracking them all down takes time, and new scammers pop up every day.
Common AliExpress scams and red flags
Most scams on AliExpress aim to steal the buyer’s money and offload poor quality products. Watch out for these scams and red flags when you shop on the platform:
Fake seller profiles.
Some sellers create fake profiles imitating legitimate brands. They often use stolen images and descriptions for their products, and tend to list them for prices below the market value. Always check if the seller has a blue “Brand+” badge that identifies a verified supplier.
Counterfeit products.
Although many of the products available on AliExpress are legitimate, some too-good-to-be-true offers might lead to a dupe landing at your doorstep. Check the reviews from other users to see if anyone has reported items as fraudulent or deceptive.
Suspicious pricing.
Although AliExpress is known for its low prices, some dirt cheap items might cause you to raise your eyebrows. Avoid buying name-brand tech, like phones and computers, at exceptionally low prices — you might receive used or damaged items.
Deceptive replacements.
Sometimes you might buy one product but receive an item that’s similar but not at all what you wanted. For instance, you might think you bought a phone but receive a phone case. Or the blouse you were eyeing turns out to be doll sized. Read the descriptions carefully and check if what you see in the picture is what’s really being sold. Sometimes details get lost in translation. Other times, it’s a scam.
Missing items.
Sometimes orders arrive with missing items due to logistic miscalculations or human error. In those cases, the seller usually informs you ahead of time or, if you report an issue with the order, try to fix it. However, if your package is a few items short and you’re hearing nothing from the supplier, you might be a victim of a scam.
Fake refund scams.
Some sellers issue fake refunds to steal your money. They either deliberately send you a parcel with poor quality items and things you didn’t buy, or the order doesn’t show up. When you request a refund, they offer to pay using a third-party platform. They resolve the order dispute on AliExpress and request PayPal to charge back their transaction, leaving you without your items or money.
Off-platform communication.
Some scammers might pressure you to move conversations to a different platform, like Telegram, WeChat, or WhatsApp, claiming they have additional items to offer or to resolve a dispute more privately. However, they do this so that once they scam you, AliExpress’ support team can’t intervene and help. Always talk to sellers about your orders on AliExpress only so you have proof of fraudulent seller activity.
Brushing scams.
Brushing scams usually don’t directly involve money or direct purchases. Instead, scammers send an unsolicited parcel to your doorstep and use a sockpuppet account to write a fraudulent product review. They might get your home address from a data breach. You don’t even need to have a personal AliExpress account for your data to be misused in a brushing scam. However, you can report fake AliExpress accounts on the platform and get them taken down.
Pro tip: If you suspect your account might be compromised, you can use NordPass’ Data Breach Scanner — it monitors the dark web for your credentials, email addresses, credit card details, and personal ID information.
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Top tips: How to shop safely on AliExpress
The AliExpress catalog is huge, and telling a real listing from a fake one can sometimes be difficult. So make sure you always follow safe shopping practices as you add items to your cart.
1. Check the seller accounts and ratings
Before you commit to an item — especially one that has hundreds of similar listings on AliExpress — see who the seller is first. Be wary of new accounts with few to no reviews. Likewise, brand new accounts that have garnered hundreds of reviews in a matter of days could be committing brushing scams.
Ideally, a trustworthy account is one that’s been stocking items for at least two years and has a 90%+ positive customer feedback. They also usually have a verification badge to prove their service on AliExpress is legit. If it’s a known supplier, you can also look up their official website and see if it mentions the AliExpress storefront.
2. Read each listing carefully
Check the item description to make sure you’re buying exactly what’s shown in the image. Sometimes listings are automatically translated to English, so the title might not match what the description says. Look at the measurements and specs. Keep an eye out on AI-generated images — many scammers use stolen images and alter them to make their listing look slightly different and the product more attractive to potential buyers.
3. Look for user reviews with photos
Written reviews can be forged in brushing scams. A review with a photo may be more trustworthy — AliExpress lets you add an image to your review so you can show other buyers what the item really looks like. However, be on the lookout for repetitive images. If multiple reviewers use the same background and placement, even the image reviews might be falsified.
4. Only buy items with verification badges
You want to be sure you can get your money back in case the purchase ends up being a scam or simply doesn’t meet your expectations. Prioritize storefronts that have “Brand+,” “Free return,” and “Buyer protection” badges. That way, if you have any issues with your order or want to make a return, you’re guaranteed to get support from AliExpress.
5. Be cautious of too-good-to-be-true deals
You can get legitimate brand-name clothes, accessories, home appliances, and electronics on AliExpress — but the possibility of buying a Prada bag for a fraction of the market value or a 75-dollar iPhone is too good to be true even on a platform known for cheaper deals. Watch out for fraudulent listings that sell dupes of known labels. Most “luxury” items on the platform are replicas, so don’t fall for a storefront that claims to be an exception to the rule.
6. Set up account protection
Your AliExpress account contains personally identifiable information, like your name, home address, and preferred payment method. Although sellers can’t see this information from your profile, it’s visible on the printed label. Some scammers might try to take over your account, gain access to your personal data, and use it to scam valid sellers on the platform, which could lead to you getting banned from AliExpress on top of having your personal information compromised. To protect your account from intruders, you can set up a passkey instead of a password and log in more securely.
7. Be aware of common scams
We covered some popular scams on AliExpress. However, that list is not exhaustive. Cybercriminals now use AI to scour data breach databases and gather stolen user information, develop more sophisticated scams, and attempt to breach systems. Stay up to date with recent breaches and be vigilant of red flags like generative AI content and persuasions to talk to sellers outside AliExpress.
Secure your online shopping experience with NordPass
AliExpress is a legit platform — and a good place to look for cheaper items you might need for personal projects, household upkeep, or just to save money. However, with brushing scams and counterfeit goods often irking customers, you might want to think about extra security as you shop online.
NordPass lets you handle your credit card information with more care. It lets you add a card as a unique item and keeps it protected with XChaCha20 encryption. Once you get to the payment page, NordPass autofills the card details for you, so you don’t need to save them in your AliExpress account or your browser.
If you worry about your information being compromised, you can set up the Data Breach Scanner, which checks your email address, credit card details, and ID number against known breach databases on the dark web.
For account protection, you can use NordPass’ Password Generator to create a reliable password, add two-factor protection with Authenticator, or set up a passkey that you can synchronize to log in on any device. Keep your AliExpress account and your credit card information protected from cybercriminals with NordPass.