What to tell customers who bought from a fake
A customer emails about an order you have no record of. They are not confused, they are angry, and from where they stand you took their money and sent nothing.
Tell them the order is not in your records and the site is not yours, then give them the recovery route: their card issuer, described as a merchant misrepresenting their identity rather than a late delivery. Offer written confirmation that no order exists, which banks often ask for and almost nobody volunteers.
The first reply decides whether they stay a customer. Here is what to send.
The support reply
Lead with the practical thing, not the explanation. They want their money, not your context.
Thank you for sending the order details, and I am sorry this happened.
I have checked our system and we have no record of this order. The site you ordered from, [domain], is not operated by us. Our only store is [your domain].
The fastest way to recover your money is your card issuer or payment provider. Contact them and describe it as a merchant misrepresenting their identity rather than a delayed delivery, because that routes it differently and usually faster. Keep your order confirmation and any screenshots of the site, as they will ask for them.
We have reported the site and we are working to have it dealt with. If it would help, I can confirm in writing that we have no record of your order, which some card issuers ask for.
If you would still like the product, here is the link on our own store: [link].
Three things that reply does. It answers the money question first. It gives them a document their bank may ask for, which almost nobody offers. And it ends with a way to still get what they wanted.
The chargeback letter
Keep this separate and short, because it gets forwarded to a bank.
To whom it may concern,
[Customer name] contacted us regarding an order placed on [date] at [domain]. That website is not operated by [your company] and we have no record of this transaction in our systems. Our only online store is [your domain].
We are able to confirm that no order matching these details exists in our records.
[Name, role, company, date, contact details]
Do not characterise the other site. State what you know: it is not yours, and the order is not in your records. That is the part a bank needs and the part you can stand behind.
The public notice
Once you can be specific, publish something. A short, factual post protects the people who have not paid yet, which is the larger group.
A store copying ours
We have become aware of a website at [domain] that copies our product photography and listings and presents itself as our store. It is not operated by us.
Our only online store is [your domain]. Orders placed anywhere else are not ours and we cannot fulfil or refund them.
If you have ordered from that site, contact your card issuer or payment provider and describe it as a merchant misrepresenting their identity. We are happy to confirm in writing that no order exists in our records.
We have reported the site to the relevant providers.
Name the domain. A warning that says "beware of fake sites" helps nobody, because everyone already believes they can spot one.
Two things not to say
Do not assert crimes
"This is a criminal fraud operation" is a legal characterisation of a specific party that you are publishing under your own name. Describe what you observed instead. "This site copies our product photography and presents itself as our store" carries the same weight to a reader and commits you to nothing you cannot show.
Do not promise a date
"We are having it taken down this week" is a promise you do not control. Hosts, registrars and platforms move on their own schedule and the store may reappear on a new domain the day after it goes. Say you have reported it. Do not say when it will be gone.
Reply to the reviews
A one-star review about an order you never took is worth answering in public, briefly:
We are sorry this happened. This order was not placed with us, it was placed at [domain], which is not our store and is not operated by us. Please contact your card issuer to recover the payment, and contact us if you would like written confirmation that no order exists in our records.
Most platforms will not remove a review about a transaction they cannot verify either way. The reply is not for the reviewer. It is for the hundred people who read the reviews before deciding.
Questions
Should we refund an order we never received?
You did not take the money, so you cannot refund it. What you can do is tell them precisely how to recover it from their card issuer or payment provider, which is usually faster than they expect and is the single most useful thing you can give them.
Should we announce it publicly?
Once you can be specific, yes. A short factual notice with the domain named, and a clear statement of which store is yours, protects the people who have not paid yet. Vague warnings about scams do nothing.
What should we not say?
Do not call the other store criminal, fraudulent or counterfeit as an assertion of fact about a specific party, and do not promise to have it removed by a date. Describe what you observed and what you are doing.
How do we stop the bad reviews?
Reply publicly, briefly and factually on the review itself, with the route to recover the money. Most platforms will not remove a review about an order you never took, but the reply is read by everyone who comes after.