Website Scams

Scammers can pretend to be anyone online, including government organizations, any real businesses, celebrities, or even your friends or family. They can create fake websites to look like famous brands. They can impersonate famous people and show them accepting goods or services. These websites may include fake reviews to reassure you. When online you may see fake advertising banners or pop-up windows, which may include fake warnings or error messages.

Signs Of Website Scam

Items are presented for sale in general or at significantly lower prices than other sites.
You’re told ways to make money quickly, easily, with little threat or effort.
There are urgent warning or error messages asking you to click on a link.
Called to pay in unusual or specific ways, such as through gift cards or cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Only positive reviews are included.

Steps To Stay Safe From Website Scams

The risk of website scams is highest during online shopping, banking or any digital transaction. Thugs often create websites that seem real, but their purpose is to steal your personal information or money. You can protect yourself from these online frauds by following the steps below:

1. Compare prices

If a website is offering a product at a price much lower than the normal market rate, be careful. thugs often show “incredibly cheap” prices to lure customers. Any offer if “looks too good to be true,” then it is usually a scam. Compare prices for the same item with other trustworthy websites such as Amazon, Flipkart or a local seller before making a purchase.

2. Check the organization or individual

The most important step is to check the identity and credibility of the person or entity with whom you are transacting. Before sending money to a website or sharing your personal information, make sure that company actually exists. For this, verify online the addresses and numbers given on the “Contact Us” or “About Us” page of the website. If the website only gives the option to contact via email or chat and does not reveal the address of an actual office, this is a warning sign.

3. Don’t trust reviews written on the website

Scammers often put false and positive reviews on their fake websites to confuse buyers. To check the reliability of a site or business, search the name of that website on Google with the words ‘scam’, ‘fraud’ or ‘reviews’. This will let you see real customer experiences and complaints. If you get a lot of negative comments, avoid purchasing from that website.

4. Do not click on the warning or error pop-up

Often thugs show fake warning messages, such as “your system is infected” or “your account is being closed.” Such messages contain links that can send you to dangerous websites or put viruses in your device. Instead of clicking on such a pop-up, go directly to the application or website that is named in it, and see if there is really a problem.

5. Keep your device updated

Your computer or mobile phone plays the most important role in terms of security. Therefore, always keep your operating system and all apps updated to the latest version. Enable automatic (automatic) updates so that security patches are installed in a timely manner. With this, cyber criminals will not be able to take advantage of old security flaws.

By following all these precautions you can avoid website scams to a great extent. Remember — vigilance is the greatest security in the online world.

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