What comes to your mind when you first hear the word scam. Most of us connect with this as fake. Anything that is not real irrespective of the situation. In the internet world you should know how to check if a website is fake or real. Everyone doing business these days at least makes a website. Before you do business with them, check if the company is fake or real. The idea is to make sure we are protecting ourselves from scammers. There are many fake websites active on the internet and they pretend to be big brands to fool people.
Above all, very few have any idea about how scam links work. Therefore, your core objective is to ensure protection from scams. We have analyzed and tested some methods on how to check if a website is genuine or not. These will work as fake website checker tools for you.
How fraudsters steal identities
When we say fraudsters steal identities then it is related to your personal data. First of all, most fraudsters steal your personal data bank, government sources and other places. These days you can even buy data online. They call you and ask you to make a payment online. In some cases there are payment gateways also registered.
People doing online fraud are linked in other countries so there is nothing much you can do. Therefore, if you trust a wrong website for payment then there are chances that fraudsters steal your identity. With these details they will head towards the next fraud and so on. In some cases we have seen fraudsters use card details and make online transactions. Therefore, it is really important to check whether a website is genuine or not.
There are many types of frauds
If you start making a list then this will not end. As soon as you finish writing you will hear about one more fraud. Therefore we have identified some of the most common fraud types in the world.
Bank Fraud
There are 100’s of different types of frauds in banks. Since this is linked with financial transactions, you need to be very careful. Many people get calls about
Frauds in Business
There are various types of fraud in business. We recommend you to do enough research and get into a contract before making a payment online or offline. This is not related to competition any way but to make sure you check if the company is fake or real before getting into a transaction. Preventing businesses is now directly related to its existence.
Frauds in Accounting
Accounting frauds are common and happen inside your business premises. Keep a close eye on the accounts department because there are some small transactions we ignore. Your accountant may not know be as concerned about your business as you are. Therefore, look for some small unknown transactions.
Credit Card Fraud
Banks do all possible efforts to provide protection from online frauds. In this case everything happens over the phone and internet. Fraudsters steal identities due to data available. They have all the details beforehand. They only need OTP from your mobile phone for making an online transaction. Due to this they call you and refer to some important thing. They ask you for an urgent OTP number and you may lose all your money from the bank.
IT Fraud
There are many fake call centers working across the world. They make people fool and snatch the money. These people are experts with great communication skills. They call you and say that they are talking from the bank or any other institutions. Many calls are related to improving credit score. They are so professional that people don’t even realize that they are dealing with a fake person. The first thing you need to do is ask for a website link. Check if the website is fake or real before proceeding further. If you keep on asking questions then the caller will get to know that you are aware and will disconnect the call.
Frauds in Health Insurance
This is one type of fraud that people the customer will get to know very late. In this case these fraudsters study your health profile very carefully. Once they have strong knowledge, they take the money and disappear.
How people make a fake website
First of all we have to understand that every website that we come across is not real. Once we start doing it then we start scanning our actions. To make a fake website, fraudsters try to make a copy of a famous brand. They follow these common practices to achieve their goal.
- First of all they buy a domain name that looks similar to a big brand.
- In the next step they make a similar website.
- During the process of making a fake website, they copy the company logo and products as well.
- Now they link this site with a payment method.
- After uploading the website on the server the next thing is to set up and add a campaign. Add campaign because nobody notices a fake website when it is launched.
- They come up with a scheme advertisement and ask customers to make payment online to avail the offer. Only a few can check if a website is fake or real.
- They also take payment via Paytm in case of internet banking not available with the customer.
- As mentioned above, they will already have bulk personal data of customers from various companies. Due to this very few people will doubt them.
- Once you make the payment they will move forward with another transaction.
How to check website is fake or real
There are many ways to do it. Therefore, we have mentioned some most used techniques to check a website’s reality. Once you apply them on a website, you should be able to check if the company is fake or real. If a company fits well on all the parameters then you can think of doing business with them. If it does not, ask for more details before making an online payment or writing a check.
- Who is Look up – Search for the domain owner information. It should be registered on some individual or a company’s name. Fake people do not reveal their identity.
- Check the domain Information.
- Read the company as most companies list them on Google.
- Find the address (physical location), contact details and business email.
- Go with the secure server location.
- Read about the company profile
- Scammers will sometimes use fake versions of real businesses’ Web addresses to trick you into revealing your personal information. Look for oddities in any address that appears in an emailed link, like a misspelled company name, or extra characters at the end of the domain name.
- Scan through the website content. Good companies write content that is meaningful and professional.
- Once you make the payment they will move forward with another transaction.
How to prevent fraud?
Fraud prevention is a separate domain but you can still follow the basics. Let us try to understand this with an example. You want to make an ecommerce website and are looking for a good software development company. I chose this example because this is one of the most competitive lines of business. It all starts when you buy a domain. Most companies sell your data in the open market. As soon as you purchase a domain, you start getting calls from the service providers. There is no single method to check if a website is fake or real. Due to this you need to follow the steps mentioned above. Along with that you can also do the following things.
- Ask the company to create a business profile and send it to you.
- A detailed business proposal can also help you understand them. Fraudsters only know how to make a fake website, they will only ask you to place an order. They will never send you a detailed proposal.
- Ask for proof of work. It is possible that the company does not have any work history. There are startups but not everyone is a fake company.
- You can ask them to create some samples for you before you proceed with the first payment.
- You can identify with their eagerness of taking payment online. They also ask you for some token money if you refuse initially. Fake people do not wish to stay connected for a longer time. They always worry about getting caught.
- If the company you are dealing with seems good, go ahead with the contract. Yes, a contract is important.
In the case of new businesses creating a contract is always better. Sometimes it works as a life saver in case of a dispute.
All these tools work as a website scam checker tool. If you apply all these techniques you can ensure your protection from scams and fraudsters. As a result you become scam proof or reduce the probability to minimum.