This is a version of Fake Branded Online Store Scam in Marketplace / Classifieds.
Fake Takealot daily deal page selling a kitchen appliance bundle at 65% off
A product page with the Takealot name and logo offers a Defy 30L microwave, a Russell Hobbs 6.5L air fryer and a Mellerware glass kettle together for R 599 instead of R1,697, under a "Daily Deal" countdown and an "UP TO 65% OFF" badge. It copies Takealot shopping features such as takealot.credit monthly payments, TakealotMORE free delivery, eBucks and Discovery Miles, and next-day delivery to Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. It was reported from South Africa on October 29, 2026, at tekalotke[.]vercel[.]app, a free Vercel hosting address that is not a Takealot address. The link carried paid-advert tracking tags that included a Facebook click identifier.
What’s different in this version
These traits set this message apart from the usual pattern.
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The page is not on a Takealot address. It sits on tekalotke[.]vercel[.]app, a free hosting subdomain whose name is a misspelling of Takealot.
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Three branded appliances (Defy, Russell Hobbs and Mellerware) are sold as one bundle for R 599, shown as a saving of R1,098 on R1,697.
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The page adds pressure with a countdown of about 41 minutes, "52 people have this in their cart", "1,200+ sold" and "Only 4 left at this price".
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It copies Takealot shopping features: takealot.credit at R49 a month for 12 months, free delivery with TakealotMORE, eBucks and Discovery Miles rewards, and next-day delivery or collection in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
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The reported link carried paid-advert tracking tags (utm_medium=paid, utm_source=an) and a Facebook click identifier (fbclid), so the visitor most likely arrived from a paid advert.
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The saved page code is marked as Portuguese-language even though every visible word is English, which suggests a reused page template.
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The capture shows only the product page. What happens after "Add to Cart", and what payment details are asked for, was not recorded.
Other variations of this scam
Other reported versions of this scam.
Fake Stokomani shop selling an electric bike for 89 eurosUnknown · 2026-10-30A French-language shop whose page title ends in "Stokomani" sells a "Vélo électrique MileCity 1" (MileCity 1 electric bike) for 89.00€ in...
Fake SHEIN Store Selling Designer Bags and PhonesUnknown · 2026-09-17A shop carrying the SHEIN wordmark and a footer reading "©2009-2026 SHEIN All rights reserved", at shein[.]brinqu[.]com. The brand name s...
Fake ALDI UK shops selling cut-price power toolsUnknown · 2026-08-12Shops using the ALDI name and logo appear on web addresses such as aldiuk-store[.]inlayvault[.]shop and sell-ukaldi[.]havenoraa[.]shop, w...
Fake Adidas sale sites selling unbranded summer clothes at 90% offUnknown · 2026-08-04Shops at addresses such as saleadidas[.]com and adidas-offers[.]com use the Adidas name and an Adidas-style menu of shoes, clothing and a...
Related scams
Other patterns in the same category, or that share a brand with this report.
Fake Vacation Rental Booking Site ScamMarketplace / Classifieds · Added 2026-09-02A fake vacation-rental website copies a real booking company's branding and listing design. It sends travelers to an unfamiliar address,...
Venmo/Zelle Payment Hold Scam on Facebook MarketplaceMarketplace / Classifieds · Added 2024-06-15Scammers target people selling items on sites like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist by pretending to be interested buyers. They claim t...
How this scam works
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Step 1: A shop appears at an address that carries a familiar retailer's name without being that retailer's website. The name is often placed to the left of the real address, so it reads correctly at a glance.
- 2
Step 2: The page copies the retailer's wordmark, colours and footer closely enough to pass a glance, including a copyright line in the real company's name.
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Step 3: The goods on sale do not match the retailer: a clothing brand's shop offering designer handbags, phones, drones or car parts, with product text scraped from wholesale listings.
- 4
Step 4: The site behaves like a normal shop. It offers accounts, a basket, orders and a customer service chat, which is what makes a shopper willing to type things into it.
- 5
Step 5: Anything entered goes to whoever runs the site rather than to the retailer, because the retailer has nothing to do with it.
✓ Do this
- Read the web address from the right. The real site is the last part before the first single slash, and a brand name in front of it is just a word somebody chose.
- Go to the shop the way you normally would, through its own app or by typing its address yourself, and see whether the same offer exists there.
- If you have already paid, tell your bank or card provider straight away and ask about a chargeback.
- If you reused a password on the fake shop, change it everywhere else you use it, from a device you trust.
✗ Avoid this
- Do not judge a shop by whether it looks right, or by a safety checker finding nothing wrong. A copy can be good enough to pass both.
- Do not assume a padlock or 'https' means a shop is genuine. It only means the connection is private, not that the shop is.
- Do not enter a card, an address or a password on a shop you reached from a link, before you have checked the address.
- Do not trust a brand's logo, a copyright line, or a long list of well-known names on the page. All of those are copied in a few minutes.
Verbatim excerpts from the scam
Exact lines from emails or messages—searchable text so you can compare wording.
- 1 Excerpt 1Daily Deal - ends in 00:41:19
- 2 Excerpt 2Defy 30L Microwave + Russell Hobbs 6.5L Air Fryer + Mellerware Glass Kettle
- 3 Excerpt 3In high demand - 52 people have this in their cart
- 4 Excerpt 4R 599
- 5 Excerpt 5You save R1,098
- 6 Excerpt 6Order within 41m for delivery tomorrow
- 7 Excerpt 7Only 4 left at this price
- 8 Excerpt 8Eligible for Cash on Delivery.