Komsan Chiyadis
GrabFood delivery-partner, Thailand
In this digital age, knowing how to spot fake websites is not just helpful; it’s the key to protecting yourself online – everything from your personal identity, your financial information and logins for your email and social media.
Here are some tell-tale signs of a fake website:
Check if the URL
is misspelled
One key indicator of a fake site is a misspelled URL. Fraudsters may change up a URL name slightly, like using Go0gle.com, or they may change the domain extension — like google.org instead of google.com.
Look out for
the lock
The padlock usually means that information on a site is encrypted, and browsers will consider it secure. If the address of the webpage where you submit information is unsecured – meaning it does not start with “http://” and the padlock symbol is missing from the status bar, close the page immediately.
Look beyond
the lock
There should be a padlock icon on the URL bar at the top left of your browser window. If it’s not there, it’s not a secure site and you should not provide your personal or financial details. You should also check the payment options at checkout stage to see if it has a trust seal – this symbol means the payment and brand are legitimate, and safe to do business with.
Use website
checker
When in doubt, use a website checker to verify if a website is secure. Alternatively, do a quick search on Google and you will be able to see reviews on the website searched.
Additional ways to verify a website
Besides checking for misspellings, padlocks and running the URL through a website checker, also look for the following trust indicators on a site:
A privacy policy
A return policy
Contact information for the business, like a phone number and address
What to do if you stumble upon a fraudulent website?
- Report the fake site to Google Safe Browsing and leave it right away.
- Do not provide any sensitive information like financial details, a login and password, verification codes, a Facebook login, or even your name and contact information.
- Do not click on links from unfamiliar emails, online posts, or DMs.
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