Fake deal-laden Endura websites and social media ads offering 80% discounts a scam, cycling clothing brand warns customers

Cycling clothing brand Endura has warned its customers against taking advantage of websites and social media advertisements purporting to offer significant discounts on the company’s products, as the Scottish company says it is currently working with enforcement agents to have the sites removed.

In recent weeks, cyclists have reported seeing advertisements on Facebook for a supposed Endura ‘sale’ site, taking place at the same time as the brand’s legitimate outlet spring sale.

Like many similar scams targeting cycling brands such as Rapha and Giro, the website, ‘eu-endura.shop’, is a pale imitation of Endura’s official site, featuring a mostly bare layout with a smattering of the company’s actual images and branding.

The scam site was first registered on 26 February by Hong Kong-based domain registration company West263 International and appears to be owned by a user in China, similar to the fake Rapha website created earlier this year.

Fake Endura website (credit: road.cc)

The fake Endura 'bargains'

Its ‘sale’ includes huge, improbable savings on men’s Humvee XC shoes, which are priced at just £28, despite selling for £109 on Endura’s actual site, while the brand’s MT500 full face helmet (which you can normally buy for £230) is supposedly available for just £62.

As we’ve seen on several occasions in the past, these too-good-to-be-true offers are the work of scammers attempting to lure unsuspecting consumers into attempting to purchase items – a process that will fail to go through – and thus collect a list of valid card numbers from them, which can then be sold on the black market.

However, the appearance of this fake site comes, ominously, at a time when Endura is currently offering real, substantial savings on its products at its online outlet, including 50 per cent off deals on jackets, helmets, and shoes.

Real Endura sale 2025 (credit: Endura)

Endura’s real spring sale

And with the prospect of customers confusing this actual sale for a scam one advertised on Facebook a very real possibility, on Wednesday Endura encouraged cyclists to make sure the site they are on is legitimate before pressing ‘buy’.

“We’re aware of several fake websites and social accounts running ads on Facebook offering significant discounts on our gear,” an Endura spokesperson said.

“Our official website is endurasport.com and we only advertise through regular Endura social accounts.

“We are actively working with our enforcement agents to have these sites taken down.

“We also sell through a wide network of dealers and online stores and encourage customers to verify website URLs before purchasing online.”

> Cyclists warned about fake Rapha site offering “too good to be true” deals

As noted above, the prospect of online scammers creating fake websites purporting to be well-known cycling manufacturers or retailers in a bid to swindle consumers has been a worryingly common one in recent years.

Fake Rapha site, 2025 (credit: road.cc)

In January, British clothing company Rapha said it was aware of a “recent surge” in fake websites bearing the brand’s name over the previous six months, and was working to have the scam sites removed as quickly as possible, after some customers fell victim to the card-gathering scam.

Rapha told road.cc that it was collaborating with an IP protection specialist to enforce cease and desist action to have the fake sites taken down as quickly as possible, while also issuing pre-emptive guidance to customers to help them avoid falling victim to scammers.

And last May, helmet and clothing manufacturer Giro also confirmed that a fake site had been set up by scammers with the aim of extracting credit or debit card information from customers.

Scam Giro website (credit: road.cc)

The website, girouk.com, appeared at first glance to be a very convincing replica of the official Giro website, offering deals – usually a nominal discount of around £10 – on almost all of the brand’s products. However, Zyro Fisher, Giro’s UK distributor, soon confirmed that the site was a scam.

In August 2023, Giant warned customers of a scam website pretending to sell the manufacturer’s products, which it successfully attempted to remove. Giant’s risk manager Alan Needle said at the time that he was “not sure” if any customers had been affected.

The website, posing as Giant Bicycles’ US domain, was also investigated by the Federal Trade Commission, the body which investigates online scams in the United States, as well as Giant’s Taiwan-based legal team.

Giant fake website (credit: road.cc)

Like the Endura, Rapha, and Giro scams, the fake Giant site followed the pattern of many other fraudulent websites we have reported on in the past few years, using an at first glance believable website, but featuring clear red flags, such as payment options including cryptocurrency, cash app, or ‘bankwire transfer’.

However, unlike these other examples, Giant’s site included no credit or debit card option when ‘purchasing’, while its website was riddled with poorly written information full of spelling errors.

The rapid rise of scam cycling websites in recent years owed much to the lockdown boom in bike sales, with criminals hoping to profit from the increased demand by selling from fake websites claiming to offer tempting discounts to buyers.

> Bike shortage sees scammers target shoppers with fake websites

In November 2022, we reported that FSA, SRAM, and DMR had all reported fake sites during the autumn, with fraudsters apparently keen to make money from bargain hunters in the lead-up to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas.

In 2018 too, Scott warned customers about fake websites with "too good to be true" prices, claiming to offer discounts of up to 90 per cent.

> Beware! More fake bike websites trying to scam you

Limited availability and supply chain issues have also brought the problem of counterfeit products being sold online as cyclists were left searching far and wide for certain products and components.

In 2022 we spoke to Shimano about the issue, resulting in this handy feature to help you spot counterfeit bike components and avoid getting ripped off.