How To Identify Fake Websites: 11 Warning Signs To Know

Research shows up to half of fake sites used for phishing have a padlock now. With scammers using fake websites in most of the latest phishing and vishing scams, your best defense is simply knowing how to spot and avoid them. For even more protection, consider enlisting the experts at Identity Guard. Fake websites are pages designed to intentionally mislead visitors. These include scam websites with fake goods and services, look-alike phishing websites, and malicious websites containing malware and viruses.

As we all know, one of the most effective marketing tools is word of mouth. As a result, if these customers receive subpar replicas of a product, the word will get out that the actual thing is subpar as well. the top 10 white label crypto exchange providers in 2023 When a knock-off item fails to perform as expected, or comes apart rapidly, or does not match the buyer’s expectations, the customer is more likely to blame the real company than the counterfeiter.

Have you ever received a text message with a link that mentions that a USPS delivery requires a response from you? Scammers have been sending out thousands of these text messages claiming to be from the USPS, asking recipients to claim a package. These texts are part of an international phishing scheme that’s designed to steal personal information from recipients. If you click the link, you’ll be redirected to a fake scam site. Once there, all of your sensitive data will be exposed to the scammers. First, they entice you into their trap, and once you’ve taken the bait, they move on to the next phase – directing you to their deceptive websites, where the main part of their scheme takes place.

1. While online reviews may not always be the most reliable — especially with heavily curated on-site reviews — you can still learn a lot from the experiences of others.
2. Therefore, you can always paste the URL of a website to one of the tools, for example, Google’s Safe Browsing Site Status tool.
3. But knowing how to spot websites isn’t the only way to keep yourself safe and secure online – there are plenty of other handy tools too.
4. They use fake virus alerts and misleading buttons to trick you into downloading malware rather than submitting sensitive information.
5. Internet shopping scams have existed since the dawn of the internet, but according to a report released by the Federal Trade Commission, they increased by double between December 2019 and May 2020.

These fake shopping sites either steal your financial information or send you cheap knock-off versions of the items that you think you’re buying. In this guide, we’ll explain how scam websites work, how you can identify a fake website (with examples), and what to do if you accidentally visit or enter information on a scammer’s site. In order to obtain personal information, phishing websites provide misleading scenarios. Guardio’s browser extension acts as your virtual bodyguard, warning you before you land on a fake website. Reporting scam websites is the key to getting rid of them as soon as possible.

Search for user reviews and potential scams

Not surprisingly, most SSL certificates used by phishers were Domain-Validated (“DV”), which is the weakest form of certificate validation. However, APWG (Anti-Phishing Working Group) says that 77.6% of the phishing sites they detected in the second quarter of 2020 used SSL as their URL, a number that rose to 80% in the third quarter. This is no longer a good criterion for determining the authenticity of any given website.

Try to read through the shipping information and return policy to ensure that everything stacks up. If any of these pages are missing or lacking important details, avoid dealing with this website. Identity theft and fraud protection for your finances, personal info, and devices. Official retailers have a dedicated webpage detailing their shipping and return policy. If the website you’re on doesn’t explain how to return an item, it’s a scam. Join our weekly newsletter for new content updates, how-to’s, exclusive online event invites and much more.

Ponemon Institute Report

Criminals will go after login details and financial information or attempt to install malware on the device. Sites with valid security certificates also have “HTTPS” in their URLs, and padlock icons in the address bar. These aren’t safety guarantees, however, as many fake sites have SSL certificates as well. Consider signing up for Aura to stay safe with everything you do online. Aura proactively protects you against phishing sites, monitors your credit and sensitive information for signs of fraud, and secures your devices against scammers.

Read on- and off-site reviews for mentions of fraud, non-delivery, or even identity theft. Scammers often create fake bot accounts on review sites in order to build trust. Scammers build fake websites to steal your personal information, passwords, and money.

If you fall for this website scam, everything you submit on such a copycat website ends up in the hands of fraudsters. While not mandatory for all websites, online stores and retailers should always have SSL certificates to protect personal and financial data. ¹ The score you receive with Aura is provided for educational purposes to help you understand your credit. It is calculated using the information contained in your Equifax credit file. Lenders use many different credit scoring systems, and the score you receive with Aura is not the same score used by lenders to evaluate your credit.

Taming device, identity and certificate sprawl

If you take a real website and its fake copy, another clear difference could be the domain age. The legitimate PayPal website was created in 1999, while etoro social network trading review by fxexplained fake copies only survive a few weeks or months. And it’s not just PayPal copies – most fake websites are taken down sooner rather than later.

Despite the joys of watching cat videos and doing business online, there’s a dark side to this digital realm that everyone needs to navigate cautiously. Scammers use fake websites to steal your cash and, in some cases, even your identity. Since many fake websites will impersonate a legitimate company, you can also report the scam website to the cryptocurrency wallets that entegrate with exodus why is litecoin so low company it’s impersonating. NordVPN’s Threat Protection feature also keeps tabs on fake websites and helps you prevent landing on them. Its URL scanner checks the websites against its blocklist of sites to see if the website is secure. You can enable Threat Protection on your NordVPN app to have extra peace of mind when opening unknown links.

However, this development has also brought with it new dangers—new ways in which fraudsters might fleece the unwary. The dangers of malware infection depend on the type of malware. If you’re lucky and hackers only install adware on your device, you’ll see many unwanted ads.

Many communication methods, such as social media, email, and text messaging, can be used to entice internet users to a fake website. In some cases, search engine optimization (SEO) strategies are used to manipulate search results, resulting in malicious websites being ranked highly. Any illegitimate internet website used to lure users into fraud or malicious attacks is referred to as a fake website.

Along with the fake online stores, you can find pages that pretend to sell tickets, usually way cheaper than the legitimate seller. But it won’t grant you entrance anywhere because the ticket will be as fake as the website. It’s vital to remember that very few brands have websites with URLs that stray from the exact spelling of their brand name.

In the example above, it’s clear that the actual link is leading to another site. But if that URL looked more like Google, it would be easy to make a mistake. And scammers have plenty of ways to make the links look similar, especially when the links are much longer than our example.

Next, perform an anti-virus scan of your computer and change all your passwords, and make sure you back up all the sensitive information currently housed on your device. Then, contact organizations like your bank in case any suspicious activity takes place. These are all measures to be taken simultaneously – you should never rely on just one precautionary practice.