One in ten U.S. adults falls victim to a scam or fraud every year. The types of online fraud continue to grow with the increase of internet sites and advances in technology. Thanks to the internet, we currently have a wealth of information at our fingertips. However, not all websites are created equal—some are more credible than others. If you consume content online, whether it’s for work, school, or leisure, it’s important to distinguish between legitimate sources and unreliable sources. Continue reading to learn how to know if a website is legit and how you can stay clear of illegitimate websites with a reliable safety checker.
Overview
Given how common scammers and identity thieves seem to be on the internet these days, it’s normal to be concerned about a website’s legitimacy. Scams and phishing can happen anywhere, and it can be hard to stay safe online. The main goal of phishing and other online scams is to quickly get private information and use it for bad things, usually to make money.
When used online, “scam” is a pretty broad word. An online scam might start with a fake email or text message that directs you to a fake website. A fake website is any unreal website that is used for fraud or other bad things. “Phishing” is a type of scam that is used to get information without permission. Bad people frequently use text chats and emails, which can appear very real, to obtain this information.
How to Know if a Website is Legit
Web security keeps systems, data, and identities safe. It’s up to you to find out if a website is a scam in this case. It can be hard to tell which websites you can trust when there are so many of them. Some websites look real, but their only goal is to steal your money or payment information.
In essence, some common signs can help you spot a fake website that is full of malware. Watch out for websites with strange names that don’t look like they belong on the internet or that ask for money or personal information. How do you get better, though?
This is to say it all begins with being aware of safety. It gives you the ability to look closely at signs and requests that don’t seem right. It also makes people more likely to check the legitimacy of a website through trustworthy sources and pay close attention to emails or links they didn’t ask for, which lowers their risk of falling for phishing, malware injection, and other cyber threats.
How to Know if a Website is Legit: Step-by-Step Guide
Scams to steal your identity, account information, or other personal information can range from the amateur to the sophisticated. Use these steps to help determine whether you should trust a website that is linked to or that you stumble upon, especially if you plan on providing them with any personal information. Legitimate websites can be checked in several ways. Consider these helpful tips to know if a website is legit the next time you need to evaluate a website.
#1. The address bar should have a padlock.
Start with the address bar when you want to check the legitimacy of an online store. Hackers often use URLs that are very close to the real site’s URL but not the same. Search Google to see if you get the same page when you type something in the wrong place. Check the address bar for a padlock icon as well. Click the padlock to reveal a drop-down menu with details like the number of cookies being used, other site settings, and whether sending your information to this site is safe. It also verifies that the web address goes to the company.
#2. Checking the URL Structure
It is recommended that you look closely at the layout of the URL to find any signs of bad behavior. Web addresses, or URLs, can tell you a lot about a website and what it’s trying to do. Once you’ve checked the URL layout, here are three important things to keep in mind:
- The domain name
A legitimate website’s name is generally easy to remember. On some websites, you might see misspelled versions of well-known brands or businesses, like micr0soft.com instead of Microsoft.com.
- Subdomains and directories
Write down any subdomains or directories that are in the web address. Authentic websites often organize their different services or parts with subdomains. Nevertheless, if the subdomain or directory looks strange or is not connected to the main name, it might be a fake website.
- Complexity and Length
Warning: Avoid URLs that are too long or hard to understand. Usually, website URLs are short and simple, making them easy to remember and understand. Randomly or complicatedly formed URLs may be a sign of a malicious or phishing website.
#3. Finding the Trust Seal
Another way to know if a website is legit is to look for a site seal. Trust seals are logos or symbols placed on websites to indicate that they have undergone security checks by a reputable organization. So, look for companies that offer well-known trust seals. Trust seals from respected companies like Norton, McAfee, or the Better Business Bureau (BBB) can show that a website has been updated to meet the most recent security requirements.
Trust badges are frequently clickable and should open a page or window confirming the legitimacy of the website. Therefore, always look for additional signs when evaluating a website’s legitimacy, because a trust seal could just be a fake picture.
#4. Grammar Error Identification
Poor English is always a red flag. It’s normal to make mistakes, but if you see misspelled words, wrong verb tenses, or problems with subject-verb order on the home page, ask yourself why a professional would not notice them.
Watch out for awkward sentence patterns and paragraphs that aren’t put together well. If you see phrases that are hard to understand, it could mean that scammers put together the content and articles quickly without proofreading them first.
Checking the company’s social media presence is an easy way to tell if a website is fraudulent. When an online business maintains an active social media presence, it frequently demonstrates authenticity and consumer engagement. An absence of or limited social media activity, on the other hand, may give rise to suspicions regarding the organization responsible for it.
As a convenience, the majority of websites include social media icons in the masthead or footer. So, try to find them on popular platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube by conducting a direct search for the name if they are not visible there.
#6. Checking Company Reviews
Before using a website, company reviews can offer helpful information and assist you in making an educated choice. A lot of the time, legitimate businesses have good reviews on Google from happy customers. A quick search on Google will help you find them.
If a lot of reviews say bad things about the business or its customer service, that’s a red flag. It’s helpful to read a variety of reviews so that you can find trends and consistency in how people have felt. If you can’t locate a single review, find IT groups or sites that are related to the website and ask them what they think about whether the website is real or a scam.
#7. Proof of Privacy Policies
Finally, pay attention to the legal side of a site to see if it is safe. Sites have to follow security standards because they are required to do so by law. Read and understand a website’s privacy policy before giving them your personal information. Look for websites that use clear wording and are honest. These are signs that the website is real. To be even more sure, check that the website’s privacy policy follows the rules for protecting personal information, like GDPR or CCPA.
Website safety checker
The website safety checker is a simple tool that makes it easy to know if a website is legit. Additionally, it alerts you to the areas of your website that are vulnerable to hacker attacks. This service is offered in the UK by Get Safe Online, Cifas, and ScamAdviser.
Website safety checker cleverly uses an algorithm to give a trusted number that is based on more than 40 data sources and the thousands of reports of bad websites that come in every week from law enforcement, regulators, and consumer brands. The tool was first created in 2012, and since then, the ScamAdviser technical team has been working to make it better.
Website safety checker: Examples of the Best Free
Now, let’s dive into the top website safety checker tools every website owner should know.
#1. Sucuri SiteCheck
One of the most famous checkers for the safety of a website is Sucuri SiteCheck. All you have to do is enter your website’s URL, and the tool will check for:
- Viruses.
- Blacklisting status.
- Website errors.
- Out-of-date software.
- Malicious code.
Then it will give you an easy-to-read results page that shows you which tests you passed and where you could make your protection better. You can also get a lot of this information from the free Sucuri Security WordPress tool if you use WordPress.
#2. Qualys SSL Labs
For information protection and compliance, Qualys offers cloud-based solutions. There is a free online SSL server test at SSL Labs by Qualys that looks closely at how any SSL web server is set up. It rates how well someone did. In addition, the tool carefully checks your SSL certificate, DNS, and protocol support to find any holes or incorrect settings that could make your site less secure.
#3. Detectify
Detectify is a professional solution originated in Stockholm that gives you full protection against all possible attacks and helps you locate open weaknesses and potential threats. In essence, when hackers try to get to your company’s most sensitive data, it can stop them with its monitoring of big enterprise products. With Detectify’s 14-day free trial, you can try out all of its benefits before signing up for a paid plan.
#4. SiteGuarding
You might be interested in the free website safety checker that comes with SiteGuarding; it’s a powerful tool. The malware scanner detects malware such as PHP mailers, phishing, defacements, covert iFrames, MySQL and JavaScript injections, and more. They also have a free tool that checks websites for trash. The company also has expensive plans with more advanced features for getting rid of things, keeping them safe, and maintaining them.
#5. Intruder
As a professional cloud-based online vulnerability scanner, Intruder helps businesses lower their risk of cyberattacks by offering protection. It looks at all of your technology, including the cloud, web apps, APIs, and internal and external systems. In addition, Pro features, such as automatic threat scans, finding active or unresponsive systems, and flaws, can be tried for free for two weeks.
What happens if you visit an unsecured website?
Stealing sensitive information, altering exchanged data, redirecting to malicious sites, and engaging in man-in-the-middle attacks or eavesdropping
What is the most unsecure website?
They are:
- tathli. com.
- teamclouds. com.
- texaswhitetailfever. com.
- Hotfile .com.
- wadefamilytree. org.
- xnescat. info.
- Mail. Ru.
- yt118. com.
What does an unsecure website look like?
You do not see a closed lock symbol in your browser.
What is the most important indicator of a reliable website?
The best indicator that a website is reliable is the presence of an SSL certificate.
What is the least-safest browser?
Yandex and Edge are the two least secure browsers, according to a study by researchers at Trinity College.
What are unsafe websites called?
Dangerous sites, also known as “malware” or “unwanted software” sites
Conclusion
Even though you now know how to tell if a fake website is legit, you may still not be sure that these methods work. Remember, though, that these steps can help you avoid internet scams and identity theft. If you are careful and look out for anything that seems fishy, you will not fall for harmful websites. This is to say that you can avoid scam sites by being careful and going through all the safety checks before giving out your personal information.
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