There has been an unprecedented rise of both fake LEGO products and fake LEGO websites, and being able to spot them and avoid getting scammed is especially important to talk about during the holiday shopping season. LEGO put together a press-release and also released an info-graphic to educate LEGO fans. Below are the details.
We are currently receiving several emails and calls from parents and fans around the world regarding fake LEGO webstores claiming to sell LEGO products often at very low prices.
The sites, which are usually promoted on popular social media sites, often look genuine. Many feature the LEGO logo, theme logos, photos of real LEGO sets and a similar design to the official LEGO webstore, www.LEGO.com.
We’re doing everything we can to protect consumers from fraud, and we take the issue of fraudulent and scam websites very seriously. We’re working harder than ever to identify and report as many of these sites as possible and the following simple steps can help you spot a fake, fraudulent or scam LEGO webstores.
Look closely at the content of the site. Spend time looking at the entire website before purchasing anything. Check for incorrect languages, fake consumer services addresses, terms and conditions for returns, privacy policy etc. If you are still in doubt after doing this, try calling the company if a phone number is provided on the page. Often, the phone numbers on fake webstores do not exist or they do not answer calls.
Be cautious of very low prices. When you see very low prices being offered on LEGO products, it may be a fake webstore that uses the tactic to lure you in to either buy fake LEGO sets or simply take your money.
Pay with a debit or credit card. When buying a LEGO product online, a credit or debit card will often provide greater protection if you’re unfortunate enough to buy fake or non-existent products.
Check customers reviews. Look at various websites that collect customers reviews – use multiple sources. Check websites that alert about current scam sites.
If you see a potentially fraudulent or scam website claiming to sell LEGO products, contact customer services at LEGO.com/service.
That’s the end of the press-release, but here are a few additional thoughts based on my personal experience. The safest place to shop is directly from LEGO, at the Online LEGO Shop. Their web address starts with LEGO.com or you can also use the old address shop.LEGO.com, which will redirect to the new address. The second safest place to shop for LEGO is well-known online retailers like Amazon.com, Wal-Mart.com, and Target.com (or whatever is popular in your country). If you want to be extra cautious, make sure that you purchase directly from the retailer and not from third parties that may be partnering with the retailer (both Wal-Mart and Amazon works with third party retailers). Amazon has its own dedicated LEGO store where you can find all the currently available products. Here is the link: AMAZON LEGO STORE. Do not shop from random links you clicked on via a Facebook ad and redirect you to weird web addresses such as legofanstore, or legobrickshop, or toplegoshop, and the like.
If you are planning to buy retired or used LEGO via BrickLink or eBay, you need to be more cautious. BrickLink is now owned by LEGO, and they haven’t had any major issues with fraud, but you should always check the seller’s history and feedback to make sure they are experienced. eBay has also been good at updating their security and they do offer buyer protection. However, read the seller’s description carefully, not just the title. If they use terms like “LEGO compatible” and/or they are shipping from China, you are going to get inferior quality fakes and not genuine LEGO. If the seller shipped what they advertised, you didn’t read the description and expected something else, it is going to be a lot harder to get buyer protection. You can avoid all that hassle by just reading the description carefully.
I also recommend that when you purchase LEGO sets at any other place than directly from LEGO (both online and at local retailers), open the sets right away to make sure the content is all there and genuine. If this is a gift, you can always just tape back the box. It’s unlikely that the recipient would care or even notice. I have been reading too many sad stories of children excitedly opening their Christmas LEGO presents only to find random garbage inside. So be cautious and smart. Shop from LEGO directly possible, or from trusted retailers.
What do you think? Have you run into any fake LEGO shops? Did you ever get scammed? Are there any other tips you would like to add for shoppers to stay safe? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below!
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
➡ LEGO SHOP IN USA: Online LEGO Shop USA
➡ LEGO SHOP IN CANADA: Online LEGO Shop Canada
➡ LEGO SHOP IN UK: Online LEGO Shop UK
I’ve seen ads on Facebook now and they with places that claim huge discounts on Lego sets. One time I asked if their product was Lepin and they deleted my question. What amazes me is how many people appear by their own comments believe this stuff is legit or would rather trade quality over price. I thought more people knew the phrase, “if it’s too good to be true,”
I’m glad Lego is still a private company and not yet sold to a big toy manufacturer.
Many parents, grandparents, and casual fans don’t know any better. They don’t know what prices are normal. They click on a FB ad because they feel FB is safe, then get taken advantage of. There is a reason these ads keep popping up. Whoever is running them is making major money.
Thanks for pointing that out. I probably needed to add that there are those who specifically say, “Lego is way overpriced!” but I don’t doubt there are those who don’t know better.
There are so many of these ads on facebook, it’s scary. I see them more often than normal Lego ads. And some of them look very convincing. There was one that even looked like it was posted by Lego. (It was a fake account. )
I got burned a couple of times so now look at every ad on FB as a scam. If I’m interested in something, I will simply do a regular google search for the item instead of going through the ad. Kinds of like if the bank calls me, I call them back because you never know when it’s scammers who just want to steal your banking info.
I guess there’s always going to be someone that wants to play The Grinch for Christmas. I’ve always go on Lego website and or Amazon website. On some occasions I even go to the stores and pick up sets there. If I’m not sure about some deal , I just skip it and move on. I mean there is a fine line between patience and “I want it now” thinking. The scammers know that and also know that Lego and other things( electronics and video games) are hot items to be purchased and that’s scary. Be careful out there.
It’s really getting out of control with ‘bots’ that people are using to buy up all of the inventory then selling them on Ebay and Amazon’s marketplace. I recently ran into the need to upgrade a PC and while I found the parts I needed, it’s a good thing I wasn’t looking at bleeding-edge tech to do the job. Just try to find the latest video cards that have just been released… Ouch!
I see so many people getting scammed from ads. Not just Lego, but other things too. Can’t they just stop these Chinese thieves?
Why can’t facebook shut these ads down? Do they not care? Can facebook be forced not to allow them? This is fraudulent.
I think there are a couple of reasons why FB can’t really crack down on these ads.
First, they haven’t really set up any way to check the validity of those who buy ads.
Second, they probably do shut down ads as people report them. But it’s too easy to create another account and have four new ads to replace every one they take down.
Then there is the risk that they might shut down a legitimate seller and have to face a lawsuit.
Ultimately, FB needs to rethink their entire ad system to fix this issue since more and more people are losing faith in their platform which will affect how much they can actually charge businesses.
This is still a relatively new problem we’re seeing thanks to the massive growth of social media.
my concern with the Amazon Lego store, either Canadian or US, is that they are selling older (2016) discontinued sets for grossly inflated prices. Those prices may be in line with the collector market – but I’ve never seen Lego sell discontinued sets….. hence my trepidation about dealing with the Lego store on Amazon
Victoria, I believe those listings with inflated prices on Amazon are not directly from LEGO but from resellers.