Scams on Amazon and AliExpress: how fraudulent sellers push misleading products

If you have been shopping online for a while, you know that miracle bargains do not exist. And when they do… they usually come with fine print. Very fine.

For years, some AliExpress sellers have been playing the same game: deliberately confusing the buyer into paying for a single part while believing they are buying a complete kit.

And no, I am not saying everyone on AliExpress is a scammer.
But that on some occasions they will try to pull a fast one on you, of that I have no doubt.

The classic: the kit that is not a kit (unless you look closely)

You have surely been there.
You see something like this:

Complete solar kit (panels + inverter + battery) for €8

You click in. You skim it. You look at the photos. And for a few seconds you think you have found the bargain of the year.

Until you spot the trick:
👉 that price is only for a USB cable from the kit.

On AliExpress this usually comes with the infamous little boxes:

• USB cable → €8
• Inverter → €X
• Solar panel → €X
• Complete kit → a lot more

The title does not change.
The description does not change.
Only the price changes.

If you do not stop and read it with a magnifying glass, they stick you with it.

These scams also made it to Amazon

So far, nothing new.
The problem is when these bad practices jump to Western platforms like Amazon, where we shop with a feeling of security that is more and more of an illusion.

And this is where my story comes in.

My real case: the “phantom” dipole antenna

A few days ago, calmly browsing Amazon, the platform itself recommended a product to me.
Yes, Amazon. Not some shady ad, not an external link.

It was a portable dipole antenna for amateur radio.
Price: under €22.

Cheap, yes. Too cheap.

I read and re-read the description. Several times.
There were no variants. No options. No fine print.

What I was buying, according to the listing:

• Two telescopic radiators
• Two coils for 40 m
• Base with a balun

I will not lie to you: I knew it smelled fishy.
But I also thought it was a perfect chance to document a scam from the inside… and, hey, who knows, maybe I would get lucky.

If I had not done it, you would not be reading this article now. Some of the links that appear further down are Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through them, Acuántico Power may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Ironic, perhaps? No. My intention is not for you to stop shopping on Amazon, but for you to stay cautious when you do.

The switcheroo mid-shipment

• January 11: I place the order.
• Within hours: shipped. Everything lightning fast.
• January 13: I check the tracking… and the trick appears.

The product title had changed.

Literally.

From this:

Portable dipole antenna 7–54 MHz…

To this:

7 m loading coil…

Same order.
Same ASIN.
Different product.
In the description, a small reference to option A, B or C.

The seller already knew what they were doing

I wrote to them following Amazon’s procedure, asking clearly what had been sent to me:

• The complete antenna?
• Or just a coil?

Reply: a template message.
Generic apologies and an irresistible offer:
👉 45% discount if I did not return the product.

By then it was all clear.

Amazon customer service: plenty of politeness, zero solutions

I got in touch with Amazon customer service and explained everything.
They themselves wrote to the seller saying that I did not want to return anything, that I wanted the product I had bought.

They asked me to wait.

The next day, the seller replied:
👉 Another template message.
👉 Another discount.
👉 Zero solution.

Meanwhile, if you opened the product I was waiting for, there were no longer any images of the antenna.
Only of the coil.

As if the earlier version had never existed.

Different ASINs, same scam

Digging a little further, I found something even more interesting:

• That ASIN had no other sellers.
• But a different seller was running exactly the same play, with another, different ASIN.

Same con.
Same technique.
Different name.

I mentioned it to customer service, but they did not care; the con is still there, waiting for someone to take the bait.

The “A-to-Z Guarantee”: the same old fallback

The only solution Amazon offered was the A-to-Z Guarantee.
The money will come back, I have no doubt.

But the real balance sheet as a customer is this:

• About 70 minutes on the phone
• Money tied up
• A nonexistent product
• Wasted time
• Eroded trust

And here is the key point:

As a customer, I should never have to bear the hassle that comes from a lack of control over suppliers.

Amazon is no longer the safe platform it used to be

Amazon is still huge.
And precisely because of that, fraud gets diluted in the statistics.

When you or I get scammed:

• We are a small number
• An acceptable loss
• A tolerable incident

Customer service is polite, yes.
But the final feeling is clear: you are on your own.

How to protect yourself (a little) from this scam

• Be suspicious of absurdly low prices.
• Take screenshots of the listing before you pay.
• Check the seller, not just the stars.
• If the title or images change after you buy, complain immediately.

And above all, do not normalize these practices.

The wild East expands its borders

AliExpress was always the wild West…
or rather, the wild East.

Amazon promised to be something else.

When bad practices cross platforms and become normalized, the problem stops being the scammer and becomes the system that allows it.

Has something similar happened to you on Amazon lately?
Tell people about it. Because digital awareness is not built in silence.

Resolution (or so I thought)

Update, February 4, 2026
With this episode now closed, here is how the story ended.
Amazon refunded the full amount of the product through the A-to-Z Guarantee and, in addition, added a €30 gift card to my account for any product sold and shipped by Amazon, as compensation for the inconvenience caused.
The package that eventually arrived did contain, indeed, only a coil, and there was no need to return it, since the seller expressly stated that it was not necessary.

The surprise

Update, February 27, 2026

Just when I thought this matter was settled, something completely unexpected happened.

When making a new purchase on Amazon, I tried to use the €30 promotional credit that, according to the email I had received, had already been applied directly to my account. However, when placing the order, no option to use that credit appeared.

When I said earlier that I had been compensated with this promotional credit, I said so because I did in fact see it reflected in my account and was about to use it on a purchase, though in the end I decided to save it for later. I do not have a screenshot to prove it, but I do still have the official email in which it is expressly confirmed that the promotional credit had been added to my account.

Faced with the disappearance of the credit, I contacted customer service to ask for clarification. At first, the agent told me that there was no record in the system of that credit having been granted to me, nor of that compensation having been offered.

After providing the exact email confirming that the promotional credit had been applied, the answer changed. The existence of that message was then acknowledged, but I was told that the credit could not be kept because, supposedly, it had been granted beyond the authority of the agent who issued it.

This change of story is especially telling. First the existence of the credit is denied; then it is admitted that it was granted, but its withdrawal is justified as an internal matter of authority.

Moreover, at no point was I formally notified of the withdrawal of the promotional credit. I received no notice informing me of its cancellation, no detailed explanation of the reasons, and no prior communication voiding a compensation that had been confirmed in writing.

The situation is clear:
First it is officially communicated that the credit has been applied to the account.
Then it disappears without explanation.
And finally its withdrawal is justified by claiming it should never have been granted.

What began as an alleged attempt at deception by a third-party seller has turned into a more worrying situation from the consumer’s point of view: the withdrawal of a compensation previously confirmed in writing through an official customer service channel, with no prior notice and no formal explanation.

There is no making sense of this

I hope this update, dated April 6, 2026, is the last one.

Today, as I was about to pay for a purchase of a product sold by Amazon, a €30 courtesy credit appeared among the payment options.

Without thinking twice, I used it.

I do not know what happened: once again, no communication.

All I know is that I hope this is over.