Nowadays, online criminals can
easily set up a legitimate-looking fraud Website or email to perform their
fraudulent acts. Plenty of these Website utilize a domain name that sounds
similar to a common product
or brand name. A fraudulent site also uses familiar-sounding company
names, but they won’t even mention the name of that particular company in their
Website. So it’s highly advisable for you to be cautious of domains that end in
.org or .net, since those two aren’t typically used for online stores, and
could end up being misused by other fraudulent organizations.
Phishing is a type of scam conducted
by a hacker, or a group of hackers, in order to acquire personal information
from their victims by using the most complex social engineering techniques. A phishing
email has been designed to appear as if they come from a real organization, or
an individual. The emails have been planned to reel in potential victims,
getting them to click on a link that will bring them over to realistic-looking
fraud sites. The victim will then be requested to hand in their personal
information, including their account usernames and passwords. And if they end
up doing this, it could lead to even more possible compromises from other
hackers.
How
to Detect Fraud Websites
First, take a closer look at the
Website. Go check out their homepage, or the ‘About Us’ pages, if they have
one. Another good idea is to see if the Website contains any contact
information. If they don’t have any, then it’s pretty much given that the
Website is a total fraud. If the Website does have a ‘Contact Us’ page but only
includes a form for guests to fill out, then this is a sign that the site is
also a fraud. Companies that provide services or goods should also include a
place of business, together with an email address or a hotline number that
customers can call. If they don’t have any of those, then these could be fraud Websites.
Keep a look out for poor spelling
mistakes or if they can’t even form simple grammatically correct sentences.
This can mean that the site is fake and was quickly put together by a scammer
who wants to make quick profit. Fraud Websites are usually set up in areas
where there aren’t any native English speakers.
Another thing you should check is if
the site has a reseller rating. This is a database of online vendors and
merchants that are not only verified as real, but also includes sections in
their site for customers to give their feedback and rate the store. Real online
shopping sites also include details regarding shipping policies, and feedback
as to whether the company ship their goods in time, and the overall customer
satisfaction rating. If this Website isn’t included in the reseller rating,
then you should think twice about buying because it could be one of the
existing fraud Websites.
