The question comes up often as more and more scam sites are created. Here's a test that you can apply. I don't do business if they raise any red flags. Since questions about business legitimacy come up often, I thought I'd start a thread on it for future reference. What should I add to the list?
Phone Number: Is there a phone number prominently displayed on their home page. Red Flag if there is not.
Address: Do they have a physical address posted? If not Red Flag. If they do have an address, what does it look like on Google street view or satellite map? Red Flag if it doesn't look like a business.
Inventory: Do they have a lot of hard to find stuff or too good to be true pricing? Red Flag if they do.
Business History: When you Google the business name with the words review and complaint, what do you find? Little footprint or a lot of negative reviews or BBB complaints is a red flag.
Payment Method: Crypto, Venmo, Pay Pal friends and family only? Red Flag.
Site Language: Do you notice language errors or irregularities? Red Flag if there are errors and oddities.
Just to add to what Paul has mentioned here, you can also run a {whois} command in the URL box of your browser. It would look like this:
whois ammo.com <- type the whois command, add a space, and then the URL (or address) of the website. The Domain Information section will tell you when the site was registered, and if its current, and there SHOULD be some registrant contact information in the Registrant Contact section. Sometimes the phone number matches the website phone, and sometimes it does not. If it does not match, call it. Never know what you'll get. There usually won't be a name in this section, due to the Whois Privacy Service. <- that should NOT be taken as a red flag.
IMPORTANT: None of the information presented in the whois can ON ITS OWN be used to disqualify a website as authentic, but there's a lot of information there that can be used to help you track it down. If a website was registered less than 6 months ago? Red flag. <- that's a 'for instance'.