Posted: 4:36 pm Thursday, November 21st, 2013

Watch out for fake websites, know how to spot them 

By Susan Salisbury

Look for the padlock icon to ensure a website is secure.

During the holiday season, fraudulent “drive-by” web stores pop up on the Internet.
Anti-virus and security company Thirtyseven4 says that online shopping is at an all-time high this time of year, and it anticipates the number of fake e-commerce websites to increase by 100 percent.
The dangers often come when a user downloads and installs unwanted or malicious software simply by visiting the website or by tricking a user into a fraudulent credit card transaction for merchandise that will never be shipped.
“If a brand new brick-and-mortar store popped up out of nowhere one day and offered unbelievably good deals on Coach handbags and Rolex watches, we would be suspicious. The same “street smarts” should be applied to online shopping,” said Steven Sundermeier, owner of Thirtyseven4, LLC.
How can you spot a fake website?
Here are four practical tips:
1. Appearance: How is the grammar and punctuation of the website? Is it easy to navigate? Legtimate online store sites and professional and user-friendly.
2. Believable: Is the website offering a new Xbox ONe Console or Gold P iPhone 5 for $25? If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.
3. Credible: Other than purchasing online, does the store offer any other order placement method? If you Google the website address, what is its placement on Google? For established companies, the completed results would have the address in the first position? When was the website created?
4. Checkout: When entering credit card information and finalizing an online purchase, verify the website is secure. The checkout section of all legitimate sites will begin with “https” (instead of “http”), noting that it is secure. There should also be a padlock icon next to the web address.
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