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The internet can be a dangerous place. Quite recently, a spokesman for the European Union remarked that the internet was like ‘the Wild West.’ The primary reason that the internet is dangerous is that many parts of it are completely unregulated, meaning that there’s nobody supervising them and they are lawless.
A big problem on the web is fraudulent websites, created solely to steal people’s money. Because of the rise of phony websites, you need to take steps to verify that each website you use is 100% reliable and genuine.
This post will tell you how you can do that:
Website Type
Some types of websites are more commonly used as vessels for fraud than others. Digital gambling sites are often used to target people, especially sports betting sites. Because of this, you need to verify the authenticity of any gambling website that you are using so that you are able to avoid falling victim to fraud. Whether you’re looking for cricket gambling sites or ones that offer actual games (i.e., roulette, blackjack, and poker), read guides, and reviews, and use expertly curated site lists. Porn sites are also commonly used to steal people’s money and personal information.
SSL Certificate
If the website that you are using doesn’t have an SSL certificate, then it’s a strong indication that the site’s owner is either lazy and doesn’t want to spend money or is up to no good. Either way, you shouldn’t use a person’s site if they don’t have an SSL certificate. If you are not familiar with what an SSL certificate is, then it is a digital certificate that is used to authenticate a website. It also enables an encrypted connection, meaning that your data’s a lot safer when the site you are using has one.
Contact Page
If you want to check whether or not a site’s reliable or genuine, then navigate to the site’s contact page. A site that isn’t genuine won’t have any information there or the information won’t be accurate. All that you have to do is to pop over a quick email to the address provided or give the number a call. If the email doesn’t send and the number doesn’t go through, then you are dealing with a phony site. Make sure to always check a site’s contact page before you purchase products from them or do business with them.
Social Media
Social media is a good indication as to whether or not a site’s genuine. Websites that don’t have connected social media pages in today’s day and age are probably not genuine, or at least not worth using. A connected social media page shows that the person whose website you are using understands the importance of marketing and is trying to expand their business. If a person does not have a social media page, then you have to ask yourself, ‘what are they doing to grow their business?’—if the answer is ‘nothing’ then there’s something wrong.
Domain Name
Always verify a site’s domain name before you use it, especially if you have been referred to the site by somebody else. Sometimes people create domain names that are similar to other websites, then they try to steal those websites’ customers. When you are on a website, copy its domain name and then paste it into a search engine, then search. In addition to telling you whether or not a site’s genuine when you do this, you’ll also find other information, like reviews, which will be addressed shortly. Verifying a site’s domain name is a crucial step to take if you want to check whether or not it’s authentic.
Website Age
You also need to check a website’s age before you use it, then use the information that’s provided on the site to confirm this. Some websites will claim that the business run from the website has been operating for decades but have websites only registered a year or so ago, or even less. This is an indication that the person running the site is either being dishonest or is outright trying to scam you. You should always confirm the information provided for a site’s age by the website itself with website age checking services, so you can be sure that the site’s owners aren’t lying to you.
Spelling and Grammar
A strong indication that a site is a scam is if it has very poor spelling and grammar. With that said, poor spelling and grammar don’t always mean that a site’s a scam—it just means that the person running it doesn’t speak very good English. You should take the other steps outlined in this post so far to verify a site’s authenticity once you spot bad spelling and grammar, but don’t judge a site by that alone. It’s normal for people from other countries not to be able to speak and write English as fluently as native speakers.
Privacy Policy
It’s always a good idea to check out a site’s privacy policy. If a website does not have a privacy policy, then it is an indication that the site’s a scam or is at the very least rushed (which isn’t a good sign). Most websites have privacy policies. If you are going to be doing business with a company, then you need to know how they are going to handle and manage your data. You can’t find this information if the website that you are using doesn’t openly publish its privacy policy.
Site Validation
A very easy way to verify a site’s authenticity is to use Google’s Safe Browsing Transparency Report service. All that you have to do is to paste a website’s URL into the search box, and it will tell you whether or not it can be trusted. Google is one of the internet’s most authoritative bodies, meaning that you can more or less take anything that it tells you as the truth, without having to worry about being duped, scammed, or misled.
Online Reviews
When you are researching a site, you should always take the time to read its reviews. A website’s reviews will help you to figure out whether or not the site’s genuine. Websites that aren’t genuine don’t tend to have many positive reviews, and if they do, they are usually all written in the same style, which indicates that they have fake reviews. The use of fake reviews is very common nowadays because they’re so easy to produce. Thankfully, for the reason just mentioned, they are also very easy to spot.
Video Tutorials
If you want to find out whether or not a site’s genuine, then you could turn to video streaming platforms and see if there are any reviews or tutorials published there. Sometimes website users publish their opinions and also instructional guides for using them online. If the site is a small business, then this might not be an option. If it’s purporting to be a larger business on the other hand, then there should theoretically be videos, even if they have been created by the site’s owners. Video tutorials are always worth considering and checking out.
Forum References
When you are researching a website, see if you can find any information about the site on forums. If you type in the site’s name suffixed by ‘Reddit’ then you will be able to see whether or not there have been any references made to it on the internet’s largest forum. Even the smallest and most obscure sites have references there, because there is a massive amount of people that use the forum, and many of them share information about websites that they have found. Forum references will help you to decide whether or not a site can be trusted.
Asking Around
If you have found a site that you want to use or buy products from, then be sure to ask around. While it may be unlikely that anybody you know in the real world will know anything about the site, especially if it’s an obscure one, people on forums and in chat rooms may do. You can make a post on a forum for free, all that you have to do is to register an account. The same is true for chat rooms, though chat rooms aren’t as popular today as they once were, so you may not be able to find one that’s active enough to be of any use to you.
Walk Away
If you can’t verify a site’s authenticity, then walk away. If you persist and try to purchase products from a site that can’t be authenticated, then you could be scammed. Internet scams are becoming a lot more common today. Failing to protect yourself from them could result in your financial and personal information being stolen. Once your information’s been stolen, it can then be used for fraud purposes or sold on the dark web. Walk away if a site does not appear genuine and can’t be verified—it could save you a lot of trouble.
Whenever you are using the internet, you need to make sure that the websites that you are using are reliable. There are a lot of fraudulent websites on the internet today. Not verifying the website that you are using could result in you being scammed.
