How to Verify a Website's Legitimacy

 

If you have ever been worried that the website you want to visit is a scam fraudulent website, you need to stay calm and read this article to the end. There are many ways to check if a website is safe and legitimate. They include:

 

1. Carry out Your Research

Typing the website's name into a search engine. If the site is not a legal, a cursory Google check will be enough. Google tends to compile user reviews of high-traffic sites near the top of the search results. Ensure that you look up the reviews and feedback from sources not related with the site in question.

2. Check if the website is secure.

A website that has an "https" tag is usually more secure--and therefore more trustworthy--than a site using the less secure "http" tag. This is because "https" sites' have SSL certificates.
A site that uses an "https" connection might not necessarily  be reliable, so it's best to verify the website. Ensure the payment page is an "https" page.

3  Check the site's security status in your browser's address bar. 

For most browsers, a "safe" website will display a green padlock icon to the left of the website's URL.
You can click on the padlock icon to verify the details of the website (e.g., the type of encryption used).

4. Evaluate the website's URL (Uniform Resource Locations. 

A website's URL consists of the connection type ("http" or "https"), the domain name itself (e.g., Jiji), and the extension (".com", ".net", etc.). Even if you've verified that the connection is secure, be on the lookout for the following red flags:
Multiple dashes or symbols in the domain name.
Domain names that imitate actual businesses (e.g., "Amaz0b", "Jijji" or "Gmall").

5.  Look for Grammatical errors on the site. 

If you notice a large number of poorly-spelled words, the site's reliability should be questioned. Even if the site is legitimate, any error in language will also cast doubt on the accuracy of its information, thereby making it a poor source.

6.  Too many promotional adverts

If it's not a blog or news website, and you find many promotional advertisements crowding the page or ads that automatically play audio or videos, then it is not a credible site. Also, try to check elsewhere if you encounter any of the following types of ads:

• Ads that take up the whole page
• Ads that require you to take a survey (or complete some other action) before continuing
• Ads that redirect you to another page
• Ads that suggest that your browser is not up to date
• Apps that ask you to spin a wheel to win a gift
  
• Explicit or suggestive ads
  

7. Use the website's "Contact" Page

Every legitimate website will have a credible contact page like this, including necessary features so that users can send questions, comments, and concerns to the owner of the site. If you can, call or email the provided number or email address to verify the legitimacy of the website. Make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom of the site to search for the Contact page.

8. Check the Company’s Social Media Pages

Most legal companies have some social media presence. If the social media icons on their pages link actual social media channel with full activity and some of the  Employees have active LinkedIn profiles.

9. Look Up the Domain Age

Verifying the age of a site provides the confidence that it has been in existence for an established amount of time. Scam and fake sites usually have a short lifespan as they are usually uprooted and shut down by legitimate business site owners. You can look up the history of a website using Whois Lookup. You simply need to copy the link of the website and paste it in the search bar and every necessary details about the website registration, name of website owner and related details will be displayed on your screen.

10. Use the Whois Lookup domain tracker (https://whois.domaintools.com/) to get information such as who is the domain name registered to, where they are, and how long the website has been active.


11. Verify the Website Privacy Policy
Data privacy laws and regulations require most websites to provide website visitors with policies and procedures on how their data is collected, used, protected, and stored.


12. Run a Virus Scan
There are many free sites and apps to scan for viruses, phishing, malware, and known scam sites:
i. Avast Free Antivirus
ii. Is It Hacked?
iii. VirusTotal
iv. PhishTank
v.  FTC Scam Alerts


13. If the offer is too good to be true, decline the offer.
If you find a site that offers an unreasonable offer, then think twice before continuing. If it’s too good to be true, then it is definitely a scam.



II. Method 2

Using a Google Transparency Report



        The Google Safe Browsing Transparency Report allows you to paste a URL into a field, and it gives a feedback to tell you if you should trust the site.

Steps:

1. Open the Google Transparency Report webpage and run the website's address

2. Click the "Search by URL" field in the middle of the page

3. Type in your website's URL. This includes the name of the website (e.g., "wikihow") and the extension (e.g., ".com").

4. Click the blue magnifying glass button


III. Method 3:

Using the Better Business Bureau


1. Open the Better Business Bureau webpage (BBB). The Better Business Bureau website includes a verification process that you can use to validate your selected website. The Better Business Bureau matches businesses with your provided websites. If you want to check if the site is safe, use the Google Transparency Report

2. Click the Find a Business tab.

3. Click the "Find a" text field.

4. Type in your website's URL. For best results, copy and paste the exact URL into this field.

5. Click the "Near" field.

6. Type in a location. While this isn't mandatory, doing so will narrow your search. No location, skip this step.

7. Click Search.

8. Review your results. You can verify your website's credibility by comparing the Better Business Bureau's results with the website's claims.

        For example, if your website claims to sell bags but the Better Business Bureau links the URL to an ad revenue service, you know that the site is a fake.

However, if the Better Business Bureau results line up with the site's theme, you can probably trust the site.

        The BBB rating system uses an A+ through F letter-grade scale. High grades represent BBB's degree of confidence that the business is operating in good faith and will resolve customer concerns filed with the BBB.