organizational structure. The reviewer ordered a product from a third-party seller on a website and even though the product never arrived, the hosting website still marked it as delivered.

Counterfeit listings have two major red flags. The first significant red flag is price. A listing that is significantly cheaper than a brand's official retail channels is suspect. Packaging is another significant red flag: Common tip-offs are blurry logos or missing batch codes.

To protect yourself from this type of fraud:

Buy directly from the brand's own site.

Confirm the retailer or third-party seller is an authorized partner of the original company.

2. AI-Generated  Miracle  Endorsements

A 2025study by McAfee found that nearly 3 in 4 Americans (72%) have seen a fake celebrity or influencer endorsement online, and fewer than a third (29%) feel confident telling a real one from a fake. Beauty and skincare have become a preferred target. NordVPN cybersecurity researchers reported a surge in AI-generated endorsement videos for skincare and cosmetics circulating on TikTok and Instagram, some convincing enough to slip past the platforms' own AI-content labels.

Some of these accounts create an entirely fictional identity or backstory to help promote and sell products. Scammers also use deepfake videos of real people. For example, in 2025, a cybercrime ring used deepfake video of a supermodel to push fake skincare giveaways, tricking victims into paying shipping fees for products that never arrived. Another drawback of this scam is that the AI versions of people's likenesses, which are unblemished and near perfect, reinforce the beauty industry's unattainable and unrealistic standards.

To protect yourself from this type of fraud:

View any endorsement that promises dramatic results or pressures an immediate purchase with skepticism until you've done your own research.

Confirm the product through the brand's own official channels before buying.

3. Overhyped Sun and Shade Claims

Not every summer beauty product trap is necessarily counterfeit. Some sellers promise more for their products than they can deliver. For example, sunscreens and tinted moisturizers marketed as a  universal  shade  or  zero white cast  have drawn repeated pushback for falling short of claims when used on darker skin tones. For example, one organization pulled its  no white cast  and  universal tint  claims this year after users reported a visible cast. The company's founder acknowledged the brand had  missed the mark  despite its own testing. Despite these claims, brands are not currently required to test these claims across a full range of skin tones before making them.

Shade range isn't the only complaint. Some brands market beauty products as sweat- or water-resistant, only for users to find it melts off or won't blend into skin at all in the heat.

Still other brands might also lead consumers to mistakenly believe that makeup with SPF is a substitute for sunscreen. In fact, cosmetic products with SPF should not replace sunscreen. According to dermatologist Anna Chien at Johns Hopkins Medicine, people rarely apply enough product to achieve the labeled SPF.

To protect yourself from unsupported claims:

Check reviews for repeated complaints about a product melting, separating, or not blending.

Apply a dedicated sunscreen first, with SPF makeup layered on top. Don't use makeup as your only protection.

Before You Buy

Each of these scams and false claims count on consumers making hasty decisions without taking the time to confirm whether sellers are legitimate. Before buying from an unfamiliar seller or clicking on an ad, following the advice above and taking a quick look at verified buyer reviews on a brand's official retail channels is well worth the additional time.

This story was produced by SmartCustomer and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.