Is sophiemelbourne.com safe?
http://sophiemelbourne.com/
Checked on
How we checked
Coverage: partial · 5 of 6 applicable core capabilities
- Antivirus (68 of 96 engines answered) · saved result: did not fully complete
- Google Safe Browsing: completed
- page reading: completed
- page capture: completed
- domain records: completed
- web research: completed
A one-month-old Shopify clothing store claims a 12-year Melbourne history, hides its operator, and has been listed by a consumer fakeshop warning service
sophiemelbourne.com is a Shopify storefront selling women's dresses and sets in Australian dollars, with clearance banners, deep struck-through discounts and a founder story about a Melbourne boutique. The registrable domain is only about one month old, yet the page states 'Proudly Australian since 2014', and no operator name, phone number or postal address is shown. A German consumer-advice fakeshop warning service has listed this exact shop URL as showing fakeshop signs and could not determine the operator's address. The technical side is clean, but the identity and refund picture puts this in the High Risk band.
Saved site captureCaptured safely during this scan1 antivirus engine flagged this URLBfore.Ai PreCrimeSaved antivirus result from Feb 19, 2025At a glance
Saved with this scan; each value is explained in the sections below.
Domain age
46 days old
Registered Sep 27, 2026Expires Sep 27, 2027Certificate
Valid
Expires Dec 26, 2026 (43d)Hosting
Canada (CA)
Shopify, Inc.Popularity
Not in the Cloudflare Radar top list
Antivirus
1/68
1 antivirus engine flagged this URLSafe Browsing
Not flagged
Not flagged on major threat listsCommunity
No reviews yet
Checked
Nov 13, 2026
Where this site sits
- Dangerous1–20
- High Risk21–44
- Moderate Risk45–69
- Low Risk70–84
- Safe85–100
The score combines saved evidence strength and analysis quality. Coverage is reported separately.
Why 38/100
High Risk covers scores 21–44. 4 findings pulled the score down; 1 pushed it up.
What pulled the score down
- ModerateRefund terms offer an exchange, store credit or partial refund 'that allows you to keep the item' instead of a plain refund.
- ModerateOne public warning from an official or consumer-protection source: "Diese Shop-URL weist Anzeichen für einen Fakeshop auf."
- ModerateThe domain is about one month old while the page claims 'Proudly Australian since 2014'.
- MinorNo phone number or postal address is shown on the captured pages; only a domain email and social links are provided.
What pushed the score up
- SupportsLinks to 10 social profiles.
No points per finding are stored for this report: our analysis weighed all findings together to set the score. Each finding shows its saved severity instead (Decisive, Strong, Moderate or Minor).
Lost money or shared details on sophiemelbourne.com? Do this now
Act quickly: the first hours matter most for a chargeback.
- Call your bank or card issuer now
Ask them to dispute the charge or open a chargeback; the sooner you act, the better your odds. Card payments can often be reversed. Bank transfers and gift cards are harder, but report them to your bank too. Crypto payments usually cannot be reversed: report the wallet address and transaction ID to the exchange you sent from.
- Change any password you entered
If you entered a password on sophiemelbourne.com, change it there and anywhere you reused it, and turn on two-factor authentication. Keep screenshots, order confirmations and messages as evidence.
- Report the site
Reports help get scam sites taken down faster and warn other people.
- Report the domain to its registrar
Tucows Domains Inc. takes abuse reports at domainabuse@tucows.com (+1.4165350123). Include the address and what happened.
- Ignore anyone offering to recover your money
"Recovery" services or agents who contact you, or ask for a fee up front, are almost always a second scam aimed at victims. Your bank's dispute process and the official reporting services never charge a fee in advance.
Full answers about refunds and reporting are in the Safety FAQ below.
01 · Investigation Brief
Investigation Brief
sophiemelbourne.com is a Shopify storefront selling women's dresses and sets in Australian dollars, with clearance banners, deep struck-through discounts and a founder story about a Melbourne boutique. The registrable domain is only about one month old, yet the page states 'Proudly Australian since 2014', and no operator name, phone number or postal address is shown. A German consumer-advice fakeshop warning service has listed this exact shop URL as showing fakeshop signs and could not determine the operator's address. The technical side is clean, but the identity and refund picture puts this in the High Risk band.
The 'since 2014' Melbourne story does not match the domain record
The storefront describes itself as an established local boutique: the page carries 'Made in Melbourne Proudly Australian since 2014', a 'Since 2014' badge, and a hero image of an older woman in a dress-filled boutique under a large 'Sophie MELBOURNE' wall sign. The registrable domain, however, was created only about one month before this review, so the claimed twelve-year trading history cannot come from this website.
The operator stays unnamed. The captured pages show no phone number and no postal address, and the only direct contact is an email on the site's own domain alongside social profile links. A consumer-advice fakeshop warning service that examined this URL found a contact page but could not determine any operator address data, and flagged the shop as showing fakeshop signs.
Permanent clearance pressure and refund terms that avoid cash back
Merchandising leans on urgency and inflated anchors: a black banner reads 'CLEARANCE SALES ENDS TONIGHT: UP TO 70% OFF', collections are named 'final goodbye', and sets are shown at $89.95 against a struck-through $299.95 with -60%, -64% and -70% badges. A strip below the navigation claims the brand is 'LOVED BY 35,000+ WOMEN ACROSS AU & NZ'.
The refund terms are the more concrete concern. They describe an 'alternative solution, such as an exchange, store credit or a partial refund that allows you to keep the item' instead of a straightforward refund, which is the pattern used by shops that keep the money rather than return it. The site does publish a 30-day returns window, free AU/NZ shipping and policy pages, so this is a steering pattern rather than a proven refusal to refund.
Clean technical checks, unverified operator
Nothing technical points to malware or phishing. The browser threat feed returned no threat warning, the encrypted connection is valid, the hosting IP carries an abuse confidence score of 0/100 across 15 saved reports, and the purchase buttons, cart and order tracking all stay on the same domain. The one saved antivirus result dates from February 2025, before this domain's September 2026 registration, so it describes an earlier owner's site and says nothing about this operator.
The risk here is commercial, not technical: an undisclosed operator behind a fabricated-looking local history, a fakeshop warning listing, and refund wording that favours store credit. Independent reviews or complaints about this exact host were not retrieved, so delivery outcomes remain unverified rather than proven bad.
Why the score is 38
02 · Security Evidence
Security evidence
Antivirus Engines
1/ 96
detectionsSaved analysis from February 19, 2025 - stale
Analysis predates the current registration
The saved antivirus analysis is from February 19, 2025, which is before this domain's current registration, so its 1 detection describes an earlier owner's site and were not counted for this one. They are listed below for audit.
- Malicious
- 1
- Suspicious
- 0
- Total
- 96
- Malicious1
- Clean67
- Undetected28
| Engine | Finding |
|---|---|
| Bfore.Ai PreCrimeMalicious | malicious |
All 96 engine results
- Bfore.Ai PreCrime - Malicious
- 0xSI_f33d - Unrated
- Abusix - Clean
- Acronis - Clean
- ADMINUSLabs - Clean
- AILabs (MONITORAPP) - Clean
- AlienVault - Clean
- alphaMountain.ai - Clean
- AlphaSOC - Unrated
- Antiy-AVL - Clean
- ArcSight Threat Intelligence - Unrated
- Artists Against 419 - Clean
- AutoShun - Unrated
- Axur - Unrated
- benkow.cc - Clean
- BitDefender - Clean
- Bkav - Unrated
- BlockList - Clean
- Blueliv - Clean
- Certego - Clean
- Chong Lua Dao - Clean
- CINS Army - Clean
- Cluster25 - Unrated
- CMC Threat Intelligence - Clean
- CRDF - Clean
- Criminal IP - Clean
- CSIS Security Group - Unrated
- Cyan - Unrated
- Cyble - Clean
- CyRadar - Clean
- desenmascara.me - Clean
- DNS8 - Clean
- Dr.Web - Clean
- EmergingThreats - Clean
- Emsisoft - Clean
- Ermes - Unrated
- ESET - Clean
- ESTsecurity - Clean
- Feodo Tracker - Clean
- Forcepoint ThreatSeeker - Clean
- Fortinet - Clean
- Fortra - Unrated
- G-Data - Clean
- GCP Abuse Intelligence - Unrated
- Google Safe Browsing - Clean
- GreenSnow - Clean
- Gridinsoft - Unrated
- Heimdal Security - Clean
- Hunt.io Intelligence - Unrated
- IPsum - Clean
- Juniper Networks - Clean
- Kaspersky - Unrated
- Lionic - Clean
- Lumu - Unrated
- Malwared - Clean
- MalwarePatrol - Clean
- malwares.com URL checker - Clean
- MalwareURL - Unrated
- Netcraft - Unrated
- OpenPhish - Clean
- PhishFort - Unrated
- Phishing Database - Clean
- Phishtank - Clean
- PREBYTES - Clean
- PrecisionSec - Unrated
- Quick Heal - Clean
- Quttera - Clean
- Rising - Clean
- SafeToOpen - Unrated
- Sangfor - Clean
- Sansec eComscan - Unrated
- Scantitan - Clean
- SCUMWARE.org - Clean
- Seclookup - Clean
- securolytics - Clean
- Snort IP sample list - Clean
- SOCRadar - Unrated
- Sophos - Clean
- Spam404 - Clean
- StopForumSpam - Clean
- Sucuri SiteCheck - Clean
- ThreatHive - Clean
- Threatsourcing - Clean
- Trustwave - Clean
- Underworld - Unrated
- URLhaus - Clean
- URLQuery - Unrated
- Viettel Threat Intelligence - Clean
- VIPRE - Unrated
- ViriBack - Clean
- VX Vault - Clean
- Webroot - Clean
- Xcitium Verdict Cloud - Unrated
- Yandex Safebrowsing - Clean
- ZeroCERT - Clean
- ZeroFox - Unrated
How security vendors categorise this site
- Forcepoint ThreatSeekernewly registered websites
- Xcitium Verdict Cloudhosted personal pages
Each vendor’s own label for the site, saved with the antivirus result. Labels are separate from the engine verdicts above and can disagree with each other.
Security Scans
Checked against the browser threat feeds available to this scan — no hit.
What we observed
Visual context from the captured page
Header shows a serif 'Sophie MELBOURNE' wordmark with nav items FLORAL DRESSES, ELEGANT DRESSES, MIDI DRESSES, MAXI DRESSES, SETS, HELP, and a country selector 'Australia | AUD $'. Black top banner reads 'CLEARANCE SALES ENDS TONIGHT: UP TO 70% OFF'. Strip below the nav states 'LOVED BY 35,000+ WOMEN ACROSS AU & NZ'. Hero image shows an older blonde woman standing in a boutique with racks of dresses and a large 'Sophie MELBOURNE' wall sign, above the heading 'WELCOME TO SOPHIE MELBOURNE'.
What the captured page showed
4 observations- 01
Header shows a serif 'Sophie MELBOURNE' wordmark with nav items FLORAL DRESSES, ELEGANT DRESSES, MIDI DRESSES, MAXI DRESSES, SETS, HELP, and a country selector 'Australia | AUD $'.
- 02
Black top banner reads 'CLEARANCE SALES ENDS TONIGHT: UP TO 70% OFF'.
- 03
Strip below the nav states 'LOVED BY 35,000+ WOMEN ACROSS AU & NZ'.
- 04
Hero image shows an older blonde woman standing in a boutique with racks of dresses and a large 'Sophie MELBOURNE' wall sign, above the heading 'WELCOME TO SOPHIE MELBOURNE'.
Browser behavior
What our isolated browser recorded while it loaded the page. Host names only: no full addresses are published.
- Pop-ups
- 0
- Download attempts
- 0
- Notification prompts
- 0
- Navigations
- 1
- Other hosts contacted
- 15
Where the page went
- First loadsophiemelbourne.comSame site
Hosts on our aggressive-advertising list
None contacted.
Test clicks
No test click was made on this page.
What the page says about itself
Quoted from the pages we read: the site's own words, not our findings.
- Page title
Sophie Melbourne
Pages we read
- Main page/Read
- Terms/policies/terms-of-serviceRead
- Refund / returns policy/policies/refund-policyRead
- Shipping policy/policies/shipping-policyRead
- Contact page/policies/contact-informationRead
03 · Investigation Story
Investigation story
What the site claims
Sophie Melbourne
What we observed
The page content was captured and checked alongside 68 antivirus results.
What independent research found
2 external findings were saved and compared with the page evidence.
What remains unverified
1 of the 6 applicable core capabilities did not complete, so those gaps remain visible in the coverage ledger.
What kind of site and risk is this?
Threat category
Fake Shop & Commercial Deception
Service and business model
Shop
Observed behavior
Evidence behind this classification
- 01The saved antivirus analysis (1 detection) is from February 19, 2025, before the domain's current registration on September 27, 2026, so it describes an earlier owner's site and counts neither for nor against this one.
- 02Clearance banner 'ENDS TONIGHT: UP TO 70% OFF' with struck-through prices such as $299.95 down to $89.95.
- 03Strip below the nav states 'LOVED BY 35,000+ WOMEN ACROSS AU & NZ'.
- 04Hero image shows an older blonde woman standing in a boutique with racks of dresses and a large 'Sophie MELBOURNE' wall sign, above the heading 'WELCOME TO SOPHIE MELBOURNE'.
- Also 5 listed under Why 38/100 above
Web research findings
Independent findings for sophiemelbourne.com, including public complaints, named review sources, registration records, and look-alike-domain evidence.
Reputation Sources
How this domain rates across independent threat-intelligence and blocklist providers.
04 · Domain & Infrastructure
Domain & infrastructure
The plumbing behind the site — who registered it, how it’s encrypted, where it’s hosted, and where it links out. A valid certificate or a calm server doesn’t mean the business is honest — scam sites pass these checks too.
Infrastructure map
- Domainsophiemelbourne.com
- Redirects tosophiemelbourne.com
- Hosted byShopify, Inc.
- Referencesfonts.shopifycdn.com · shop.appand 5 more
Domain Timeline
- Sep 27, 2026Domain registered
First appeared in WHOIS records — 46 days old when this review was saved.
- Nov 13, 2026Saved security review — Rated High Risk
The completed checks from this saved scan are detailed above.
sophiemelbourne.com was registered very recently when this review was saved and was already flagged. Freshly-registered domains are disproportionately used for scams, and a young domain with active threat signals warrants extra caution.
Contact Verification
Saved contact details can help identify the operator. Their presence supports traceability; it does not prove the business is trustworthy.
- No phone number listed on the captured page.
- No operator postal address visible on the captured page.
- Contact email on the site's own domain (contact@sophiemelbourne.com).
- Links to 10 social profiles.
Domain & Encryption
At the scan on Nov 13, 2026: 13% of the registration period had passed
Report this domain to its registrar: send the address and what happened to this contact.
At the scan on Nov 13, 2026: 52% of the validity period had passed
Certificate issued for sophiemelbourne.com.
A shared content-delivery network address answers for many sites, so it is not the site's own server and says nothing about who runs it.
Payment providers the page loads
- Shop Pay
Read from the first 20 outside domains the page loads and the shop platform it uses; the web server and platform rows are under Hosting & Technology. A payment script on the page does not prove the shop accepts that method at checkout, or that you are protected.
Redirect Chain
- 1301http://sophiemelbourne.com/
- 2200https://sophiemelbourne.com/
Server Reputation
Referenced Domains
Outbound domains this page links to or loads resources from. Each links to its own security scan.
Grouped by what each domain is for. in page: named in the page’s HTML. contacted: the browser loaded it while rendering the page. ad list: on our aggressive-advertising list.
Analytics & tracking6
- analytics-ipv6.tiktokw.uscontacted
- analytics.tiktok.comcontacted
- connect.facebook.netcontacted
- google-analytics.comcontacted
- googletagmanager.comcontacted
- merchant-center-analytics.googcontacted
Payments1
- shop.appin pagecontacted
CDN & fonts6
- cdn.shopify.comin pagecontacted
- fonts.googleapis.comcontacted
- fonts.gstatic.comcontacted
- fonts.shopifycdn.comin page
- monorail-edge.shopifysvc.comin page
- otlp-http-production.shopifysvc.comcontacted
Platform & social3
- es.shopify.comin page
- facebook.comin pagecontacted
- instagram.comin page
Other / unknown3
- api.qikify.comcontacted
- mpc2-prod-29-is5qnl632q-uc.a.run.appcontacted
- upsell.conversionbear.comcontacted
05 · Evidence Ledger
Evidence ledger
- Antiviruspartial
- Browser threat feedcomplete
- Page contentcomplete
- Analysiscomplete
- Visual evidencecomplete
The conclusion is supported by the evidence saved with this report.
Technical threat
unknownMalware, phishing, credential theft and hostile infrastructure.
No confirmed evidence in this dimension.
Operator / customer risk
suspiciousComplaints, withdrawals, business conduct and commercial traps.
Source coverage and freshness
Status shows whether usable evidence was saved; finding shows what that evidence observed.
| Source | Result | Completion | Finding | Freshness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antivirus | 1 of 96 engines flagged | Limited | Adverse | stale fallback · analysed Feb 19, 2025 |
| Browser protection | No browser threat-list match | Completed | No adverse finding | this scan · Nov 13, 2026 |
| Page content | Page fetched · HTTP 200 | Completed | No adverse finding | this scan · Nov 13, 2026 |
| Visual evidence | 4 visible observations saved with the page capture | Completed | No adverse finding | this scan · Nov 13, 2026 |
| Independent research | 2 independent findings were saved | Completed | Adverse | this scan · Nov 13, 2026 |
- Antivirus
- Result1 of 96 engines flagged
- CompletionLimitedFindingAdverse
- Freshnessstale fallback · analysed Feb 19, 2025
- Browser protection
- ResultNo browser threat-list match
- CompletionCompletedFindingNo adverse finding
- Freshnessthis scan · Nov 13, 2026
- Page content
- ResultPage fetched · HTTP 200
- CompletionCompletedFindingNo adverse finding
- Freshnessthis scan · Nov 13, 2026
- Visual evidence
- Result4 visible observations saved with the page capture
- CompletionCompletedFindingNo adverse finding
- Freshnessthis scan · Nov 13, 2026
- Independent research
- Result2 independent findings were saved
- CompletionCompletedFindingAdverse
- Freshnessthis scan · Nov 13, 2026
07 · Safety FAQ
Safety FAQ
Answered from the saved verdict and evidence in this report.
Is sophiemelbourne.com a scam or a legit online store?
Is sophiemelbourne.com safe to use?
What should I do if I already gave my details to sophiemelbourne.com?
Can I get my money back from sophiemelbourne.com?
I ordered from sophiemelbourne.com but nothing arrived — is it a fake shop?
How do I report sophiemelbourne.com?
Why does sophiemelbourne.com look legitimate if it's a scam?
Has sophiemelbourne.com been flagged by antivirus engines?
Is sophiemelbourne.com on any phishing or malware blacklists?
How old is the sophiemelbourne.com domain?
Does sophiemelbourne.com have a valid SSL certificate?
How often is the sophiemelbourne.com report updated?
08 · Final Verdict
Final verdict
A one-month-old Shopify clothing store claims a 12-year Melbourne history, hides its operator, and has been listed by a consumer fakeshop warning service
sophiemelbourne.com is a Shopify storefront selling women's dresses and sets in Australian dollars, with clearance banners, deep struck-through discounts and a founder story about a Melbourne boutique. The registrable domain is only about one month old, yet the page states 'Proudly Australian since 2014', and no operator name, phone number or postal address is shown. A German consumer-advice fakeshop warning service has listed this exact shop URL as showing fakeshop signs and could not determine the operator's address. The technical side is clean, but the identity and refund picture puts this in the High Risk band.
09 · Community
Community
Are you the owner of sophiemelbourne.com?Verify and reply