The world is going through massive digital transformation which makes it more than necessary for you to protect yourself online. If you ae wondering what to protect yourself from then let us tell you that they are the fake websites that’s been evolving with web development all around the world. If you know how to identify the fake sites, then you’ll be able to save yourself from online frauds. Securing your personal as well as work identity together with your financial information is very very significant.
After the country was hit by Covid, the number of cases for online frauds has risen. Therefore it becomes important for you to understand if a website is a fake one or an authentic one as this only can protect you in future against fake websites.
Let’s now get to know one my one the ways to identify a fake website.
1. Misspelled URL
If the URL of a website is misspelled then it’s very likely to be a fake website. What fraudsters do is change the URL name slightly so that you do not even recognise the changes in the URL. Some examples of it is amazon.com or amazon.org. They make these minor changes which can rob you of your personal information.
2. Check for Site Seals
A site seal is what helps you recognise that the site is authentic. You can click on a site seal and it will reveal information about the website and how it was verified. Seals that do nothing when you click them, you must be careful of clicking them. They are likely to be illegitimate copies of seals.
3. Look for a Lock
The existence of padlock on a website means that it is secured by an TLS/SSL Certificate which encrypts user data. You’ll generally find the lock on the upper left side of the address bar. If a site doesn’t have a lock the browsers are likely to display a not secure warning. In the past, you could easily look for a padlock in the website to know if it was genuine but now even the presence of t7hem doesn’t assure you that.
4. Secure Site v/s Scam Site
Having a padlock on a website no doesn’t make it a genuine one with the rise of online frauds. Fraudsters use low level TLS Certificates so that they can prove that they own a site that is secured. With these low level certificates, they do not need to prove that their company is legitimate. Fake websites usually get caught but they can still wreak temporary havoc.
5. Look beyond the Lock
You must look beyond the lock by clicking on it to identify if it reveals more information. If it doesn’t it is likely to be a fake one.
Even by mistake if you ever land on a fake website, never put down your financial details or never provide your personal passwords or OTPs. When in doubt just avoid filling in any information. You can also report a fake website for your security.