Identifying A Fake Website and Scams
The first thing you should do before clicking on a website is checking the website link.
In the images above, one of the links leads to a fake Target site, and the other is real.
On one of these websites, you can buy products normally.
On the other website, if you decide to purchase a product, the owner of the website can take the amount of money you payed plus more money if you entered credit card information.
That website is a scam and you will never receive a product.
Many websites pretend to be a different website to try and trick you into buying their fake products.
Fake websites make their name similar to a common brand and use the same website layout as the real brand, like the image on the top right above. A way to do this is using special characters in the URL.
The real link for Paypal is "paypal.com". A fake website could be "paýpal.com".
Check the contact information for the site.
It should have more then just a form. Most sites with contact information give company phone numbers and a mailing address.
Here are contact information pages for a real website and a fake one.
It should have more then just a form. Most sites with contact information give company phone numbers and a mailing address.
Here are contact information pages for a real website and a fake one.
Many fake websites use domains different then the real site, like the two images at the top.
A website could pretend to be Toys R Us by making their website "toysr.us" to trick people into thinking that it is the real Toys R Us website. The real website is toysrus.ca.
There are many different domain names people can use such as .org, .net, .ru, .ca and many others.
Check the domain name to make sure you are on a real website.
The domain name ".gov" is used by US government services and they are safe and can be trusted.
Look through the websites.
Check for wrong spelling or bad grammar. Real companies usually check through their websites thoroughly for spelling and grammar mistakes. Scammers don't.
Check at the bottom of the webpage. There should be something like the image below. There could be outdated copyright and other signs that it is a fake website such as bad grammar. In this
image, the name of the company is not capitalized.
Use a WHOIS lookup tool to find out who owns the website and what country they are in.
A website is probably fake if the company it is pretending to be is based in Canada and the owner of the website is from Asia or Europe.
A website could have a .ca domain but that does not mean the website is from Canada.
A WHOIS lookup shows you information about the owner of the website.
Here is an example of a WHOIS lookup on a fake website.
A website could pretend to be Toys R Us by making their website "toysr.us" to trick people into thinking that it is the real Toys R Us website. The real website is toysrus.ca.
There are many different domain names people can use such as .org, .net, .ru, .ca and many others.
Check the domain name to make sure you are on a real website.
The domain name ".gov" is used by US government services and they are safe and can be trusted.
Look through the websites.
Check for wrong spelling or bad grammar. Real companies usually check through their websites thoroughly for spelling and grammar mistakes. Scammers don't.
Check at the bottom of the webpage. There should be something like the image below. There could be outdated copyright and other signs that it is a fake website such as bad grammar. In this
image, the name of the company is not capitalized.
Use a WHOIS lookup tool to find out who owns the website and what country they are in.
A website is probably fake if the company it is pretending to be is based in Canada and the owner of the website is from Asia or Europe.
A website could have a .ca domain but that does not mean the website is from Canada.
A WHOIS lookup shows you information about the owner of the website.
Here is an example of a WHOIS lookup on a fake website.
Fake websites usually use huge discounts that a real business would almost never use.
If a price seems too good to be true, it is probably a scam.
Here is an example:
If a price seems too good to be true, it is probably a scam.
Here is an example:
Websites can scam you by getting you to enter personal information.
Some fake websites ask you for credit card numbers and addresses, and the website owner could use your information to steal money.
If you're not sure if a website asking for your information is real or fake, you probably should not trust it.
Check the URL of the page you are on when logging in to websites or entering private information such as a credit card number.
There should be a "HTTPS" at the start of the URL. The "S" in "HTTPS" means secure.
Most browsers also warn you about a website you are on if it is not safe. Check the URL to see if there is a warning. Don't use a website with a warning on it because it is most likely a fake website. Here is an example:
Some fake websites ask you for credit card numbers and addresses, and the website owner could use your information to steal money.
If you're not sure if a website asking for your information is real or fake, you probably should not trust it.
Check the URL of the page you are on when logging in to websites or entering private information such as a credit card number.
There should be a "HTTPS" at the start of the URL. The "S" in "HTTPS" means secure.
Most browsers also warn you about a website you are on if it is not safe. Check the URL to see if there is a warning. Don't use a website with a warning on it because it is most likely a fake website. Here is an example:
If you think a website is real and you decide to buy a product, make sure they offer safe payment methods such as credit card and paypal. If a website does not let you use these, they are trying to make you use unsecure payment methods. If you use unsecure payment methods, you can not refund your purchase. Only buy from websites that offer safe payment methods.
Here is a video on online shopping scams.
29,927 fake websites were created in 2014. There are many of these websites that are trying to mislead you, steal from you, or infect your computer, so knowing if a website or a product on a website is real or fake is very important.
Here is a video on online shopping scams.
29,927 fake websites were created in 2014. There are many of these websites that are trying to mislead you, steal from you, or infect your computer, so knowing if a website or a product on a website is real or fake is very important.