PSA: Scam Warhammer Sites - Don't Get Caught Out

Hi all, over the past few months there has been an increase in the number of posts asking about the legitimacy of websites selling Warhammer products at extremely low prices. These websites are almost always being shown to people via Facebook adverts.

Invariably, these websites are scams. Here's a few things to check for yourself to identify if a website is a scam:

• Are they offering Warhammer products for sale at extremely low prices, eg 90% off retail price? - If yes, it's a scam. Real retailers will offer discounts up to 25% off retail price maximum.
• Are they advertising that these incredible discounts are only available for a limited time? - If yes, it's a scam. Putting pressure on you to buy quickly or miss out is a standard scam tactic.
• What does the web address look like? - Scam websites will commonly use mis-spelled terms to confuse people, eg "warhammecommunity" or random web addresses. All real retailers tend to have names relevant to the hobby in some way. A website claiming to sell warhammer with a web address of "wimby.com" is likely a scam. "daveshobbystore.com" is likely a real store.
• What does the homepage of the website look like? - These scam websites commonly use website templates that have homepages full of fake product listings for things like homewares, women's fashion and jewellery. Real retailers of GW products don't sell those things!
• What does the "About Us" page of the website say? - Because these websites tend to use templates the "About Us" page also tends to talk about totally unrelated products like homewares, women's fashion and jewellery.
• Do the links to social media work properly? - Scam sites never set up social media profiles for themselves, so if a website has a link to a social media website like Facebook or Twitter that doesn't work it's almost certainly a scam.
• If the website shows an address, does it go to a real location? - Scam websites often enter random addresses in their "Contact Us" pages. If you see a website where the address takes you to a random residential home in the suburbs of a city it's almost certainly a scam. GW requires all retailers to have a physical brick and mortar store they sell from, so any real retailer will have an address of an actual store.

If you're ever in doubt, remember that r/Warhammer40k maintains a list of trusted retailers of GW products who offer discounts which you can view here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer40k/wiki/retailers All retailers on that list are verified GW stockists and are safe to purchase from.