If something sounds to good to be true then it is and you should avoid it like the plague! Giving out your information online is dangerous especially if it goes into the wrong hands. Look at the sites terms and conditions to see where they are from eg: if it is an Italian product then the terms will not be from China. You also need to check where the shipping address is and how long the site has been established for. By reading the fine print you will get to see spelling errors and mistakes and usually terms and conditions are written by attorneys who do not spell incorrectly.
Terms and conditions is definitely a must as far as going over them with a fine tooth comb, and especially if it is pertaining to something that sounds too good to be true, like the Iphone scam that I recently posted a thread about on this forum. Another thing to look out for is typos on websites. Even if there aren't typos, the site could still be a scam, but if there are, it should be a red flag.
These are all very good pointers, and ones that I observe. I hate to say this, but there are certain parts of the world that I just won't even look at, wouldn't touch with a barge pole. Good English is a huge thing for me, too, so typos are a no-no. I know it's not always a given, but sites that have only been operating for a few months make me nervous.
Typos aren't the only thing as genuine sites do have typos too. The main thing is the email address and other contact details to check if they are real and exist. I always check the domain and how long it has been running, or if it had another name beforehand, and check who is the owner. Some scam artists are good at web design and set up sites and then abandon them, but they often use the same details to register a domain.
I think a great way to avoid getting scammed is to trust your instincts. When you land on a site and your gut feel tells you something isn't right then you shouldn't hang around. Leave the site and buy what you need on a site you trust. Reviews could also be a good way to tell whether a site is a scam or not. Find out what other people are saying about the site. If there are no reviews or a number of positive reviews then take that is the red flag you were looking for. All sites have both positive and negative reviews.
Looking at the T&Cs is so essential, yet it is something that not many people do properly. You should always read through them, because if you sign up to something without meaning to, there is no way back, and this means that you might end up losing a lot of money. I never use a website that hasn't been recommended to me either; I think that seems like a good thing to do.
There are so many signs for scam sites but people don't realise it until its too late. When you as if they have checked the terms and conditions they say no and if you look at a site that is a scam you will notice the spelling errors are everywhere. The terms are also of no sense and it is rather easy when you read them but sometimes we don't read the fine print and see what we want sounding good and suffering for it later
A lot of being able to recognize a scam website is experience. This is why I hate to let my mother roam the internet by herself because she is a bit of a noob, and doesn't learn tech things very well. You can show her the same thing a million times and she still won't know what she is doing. But some sites will look very professional, and try to scam people.
Any email from a financial instution looking like paypal, someone who wants your account information for "mystery shopping jobs" and the like is probably fake. Also, letters with grammatical and spelling errors are a dead giveaway. If there is any doubt whether a financial email is legitimate call your financial institution and check.
This is why I have Web of Trust. It physically blocks me from most spam sites. Occasionally though, one slips through the filter. In those cases I check the site on Google and look for any results that say "Scam". If I don't trust a site after googling it that's when I check the fine print/terms and conditions. I like to cover all my bases.
I had learned my lesson when I bought a purse from an online store purportedly located in our country. When the purse arrived, it can only be released by the delivery guys after I pay an importation tax. Huh, what? Simply because the purse was imported and was shipped from Hongkong. Unknown to me, Mizzue, the online store is a dropshipper.
I have never heard for Web of Trust before. I think I may look into it. I trust my instincts as far as I am able to tell which sites are safe, and which ones are potentially harmful to my computer or personal information. Malwarebytes will sometimes block certain sites, but some of them are safe so it is a false positive. Still I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Most shady sites will not offer Paypal as a payment option because it has a dispute feature, so always pay using Paypal so that when something goes wrong then you could get your money back. Always type the name of the site followed by the word "scam" and see what results you will get.
