If you’ve been asking ChatGPT where to buy products online, you might want to pause. The AI chatbot is now recommending fake shopping websites designed to steal your credit card information, and this poses growing risks for online shoppers.
Here’s what happened: scammers have figured out how to get ChatGPT to advertise their fraudulent stores. According to research by Ask Silver, a scam-checking service, these fake websites look almost identical to real shops. They use official-looking URLs and mimic real brand websites so well that most people wouldn’t spot the difference at first glance.
Why defunct brands are the target
The scammers are particularly clever about which brands they copy. They target companies that have recently closed down or been bought out—brands that no longer have an active official website but still have customers looking for them.
Take Russell & Bromley, a British shoe retailer that went into administration in January 2026. Next absorbed the brand, leaving no official online store. Fraudsters immediately built a fake Russell & Bromley website, optimized it to appear in ChatGPT’s results, and now when shoppers ask the chatbot for Russell & Bromley shoes, they get directed straight to the scam site.
OpenAI (ChatGPT’s creator) has since added a warning for this specific brand, but the underlying problem remains unsolved.
How scammers are poisoning AI
One likely explanation is “data poisoning”—a technique where scammers seed the internet with fake content designed specifically to mislead AI systems like ChatGPT. The chatbot learns from publicly available websites, so if fraudsters flood the web with convincing fake stores, the AI picks them up as legitimate recommendations.
It’s not a quick fix. OpenAI would need to manually review thousands of shopping queries and verify each retailer, which is nearly impossible at scale.
What this means for you in Ghana
If you’re using ChatGPT to find where to buy something online—especially from international brands—you’re at risk. A scammer’s fake website might look professional and have a believable URL, but the moment you enter your credit card details, your payment information is compromised.
The danger grows as AI shopping tools become more popular. According to reports, agentic AI shopping is already in its early stages, which means scams could become more automated and harder to detect.
What you should do
- Never trust ChatGPT’s shopping links alone. Always independently verify the website URL in a web browser and look for the brand’s verified social media accounts.
- Be extra careful with overseas brands. If a brand has closed or been acquired, assume there’s no official online store until you confirm it from the company’s official social media or customer service.
- Do your own verification. Check multiple sources before making any purchase through a site you’re not already familiar with.
The bottom line: ChatGPT is useful, but it’s not foolproof when it comes to shopping. A few extra seconds of verification could save you from losing money to scammers.
Sources:
- Digital Trends: ChatGPT is recommending scam websites
- Ask Silver (scam-checking service)
- The Guardian reporting on Ask Silver findings
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