Our study aims to research the capabilities of young adults to identify dark patterns, which are manipulative design strategies. The focus is on e-commerce. Additionally, the study seeks to explore whether demographic factors, specifically gender, impact the ability to identify dark patterns. Our theoretical framework is based on Mathur et al.'s (2019) classification of dark patterns and Kahneman's dual-process theory (Kannengiesser & Gero, 2019). This framework is used to explore how young adults can identify dark patterns and how these design strategies potentially exploit cognitive biases. A quantitative methodology was utilized, including surveys to collect data from young adults. In addition to surveys, we used content analysis to find dark patterns on a selection of e-commerce websites. These dark patterns were then included in the survey. The survey was distributed across various channels, such as university programs and Facebook-groups. The results show insights into the frequency and types of dark patterns encountered by the study participants. The most identified dark pattern in our study was Forced Enrolment and the least identified dark pattern was Trick Question. In addition, our results show that both male and female participants were able to detect dark patterns to a varying degree. However, we could not arrive at a definitive conclusion, whether gender has an impact on the ability to identify dark patterns. Based on the results, two hypotheses were formulated. Future research is required to test our findings, and to further investigate various variables that could impact the capabilities of young adults to identify dark patterns.