Ordered and Nothing Arrived? Stop If the Shop Says "Send"

Good evening. This is Shemihaza, your sentinel. Tonight we look at shopping sites where you pay and the goods never come.

Here is the conclusion first. If the seller tells you to pay a personal account using the "send" function of a code-payment app, stop right there. Japan's National Consumer Affairs Center lists this as a method confirmed on fraudulent shopping sites. The "send" function of a payment app exists for transfers between individuals; paying a business uses the "pay" function. That single distinction is the clearest check anyone can make before handing over money.

This pattern comes from an alert published on 17 June 2026 by Japan's National Consumer Affairs Center (NCAC), titled "Beware of fraudulent shopping sites — some reuse images and wording from flea-market sites". The Cross-border Consumer center Japan (CCJ), which NCAC operates, receives reports along the lines of "I ordered from a shopping site, the goods never arrived, and I cannot reach the seller". CCJ publishes a list of the fraudulent shopping sites it has confirmed; as of this June it has been doing so for two years.

And the problem is not shrinking. The 2025 fiscal-year statistics published on 5 August 2026 (PIO-NET) record 1.006 million consumer consultations nationwide, up about 90,000 from 913,000 the year before. By sales channel, mail order / online sales was the largest at 38.0%, up roughly 46,000 cases. One of the categories that grew, "men's and women's clothing", is driven by exactly this complaint: bought online, then the seller became unreachable. The largest age group among those consulting was 70 and over, at 25.6% — which makes this a story worth passing on to family members who live apart from you.

The five stages of losing your money to a fake shop

• ▸1. The hook: a search result or social ad shows an item priced well below the market.
• ▸2. The look: the site is built to look convincing. Some sites reuse images and wording lifted from flea-market sites. Good photos are not evidence of a real shop.
• ▸3. The payment: this is the fork in the road. The bank account is in a personal name, or you are told to pay a personal account through the "send" function of a code-payment app. "Send" exists for transfers between individuals.
• ▸4. The silence: the money leaves, nothing arrives, and enquiries go unanswered.
• ▸5. The second hit: you are told to continue "for the refund procedure" on a messaging app such as LINE. Engaging here is how a single loss becomes several.

Why "send" is the tell

Code-payment apps separate two things: "pay", used at a shop, and "send", used to transfer money to a friend or a family member. NCAC's alert states it plainly: the "send" function is generally for exchanges between individuals, and the "pay" function is what you use when paying a business.

So a legitimate shop normally has no reason to make you use "send". A seller who insists on it is trying to receive your money outside the system that exists for accepting payments as a business.

To be precise about what the source says: no public authority states that a request to "send" is proof of fraud in every case. NCAC states two things — that this method was confirmed on fraudulent shopping sites, and that "send" is generally for transfers between individuals while businesses are paid with "pay". That is not a proof, but it is more than enough reason to stop before paying.

The same logic applies to bank transfers. If the account is in a personal name, it is not set up to receive money as a company. When the seller presents itself as a business but the account name is an individual, stop there.

Six things to check before you pay

CCJ lists six characteristics commonly seen on fraudulent shopping sites. If even one applies, think carefully before ordering. This is not "all six means fraud" — it is "any one means suspect it".

1. The Japanese on the site is not written correctly
2. Items that are scarce on the market are somehow available there
3. Brand-name or manufacturer goods are cheaper than usual
4. Payment methods are limited, and the bank account is in a personal name
5. Cancellation, return and refund rules are stated nowhere
6. The seller's name, address and phone number are not clearly displayed

What you can do today

• ✓Look at the payment method before you confirm the order. If you are told to use the "send" function, abandon the order. A bank account in a personal name is the same signal
• ✓Before buying from a site you do not know, check whether it appears in CCJ's list of fraudulent shopping sites. It is published as a PDF by the Cross-border Consumer center Japan — but note that it does not cover every site in existence. Absence from the list is not proof of safety
• ✓Confirm the seller's name, address and phone number are on the site. If they are not, do not buy
• ✓Save the final confirmation screen before you place the order (a screenshot). It is what shows what you ordered and for how much if things go wrong
• ✓If the goods do not arrive, talk to your payment provider first — the card issuer or the code-payment operator. The route available to you depends on how you paid
• ✓Never continue on a messaging app because someone promises to "process your refund". That is where the second round of losses begins
• ✓If you are worried, ask before or after buying. In Japan the consumer hotline is 188, and #9110 is the police consultation line for when you are unsure whether something is a crime. Outside Japan, contact your local consumer protection body and your payment provider

Three lines to forward to your family

• ▸Before buying, check the shop's name, address and phone number are on the site. If they are missing, do not buy.
• ▸If payment means a personal bank account or the "send" function of a payment app, stop there — paying a shop uses "pay".
• ▸If nothing arrives and nobody answers, contact your card issuer or payment app operator first. In Japan, call 188 for consumer advice, or #9110 to consult the police.

If you have already paid

Having paid does not mean nothing can be done. NCAC advises contacting your payment provider first when trouble occurs, because the path forward differs depending on whether you used a credit card, a bank transfer or a code payment. The thing to remember is simply that the right place to start depends on how you paid.

And once more: do not follow up on a message promising a refund. Keeping the conversation alive under the pretext of a refund, then extracting more money or information, is a documented pattern. The people to talk to about a refund are your payment provider and your consumer affairs centre, not the party claiming to be the shop.

The Japanese numbers again, since they only work inside Japan. Consumer hotline 188 connects you to the consumer affairs centre for your municipality or prefecture. Police consultation line #9110 is for when you are not sure whether what happened is a crime. Both can be called before anything bad has happened.

That small lift you feel when you find something cheap is not the problem. Pausing once, at the payment screen — that alone is enough to make this whole scheme fall apart. That is the one thing to take with you tonight.

Tonight's spot-the-scam quiz