How to Recognize Spoofed Websites

Many scammers on the internet have gone to the length of creating spoofed web sites in order to get people to reveal their personal information. Web sites that have been spoofed in the past (and which continue to be the target of spoofs) include Ebay, Paypal and other popular online sites. Here are some tips on how to avoid being tricked by web site spoofs and keep your personal information safe from the wrong people.

Often a spoofed web site will be the target of a link in a spam email. The email will be designed to look like an email that comes from the web site in question, and often both the spoofed web site and the email will contain design elements from the site so that it looks just like something that the actual company would produce. The first way for you to prevent problems from occurring with spoofed web sites is to never click on links that you are sent in an email.

Whenever you have to visit a site where you will be entering personal information (or through which you have access to your billing information / bank account information, etc.), be sure to enter the address to the web site directly into the address bar of your web browser. This will make sure that the site that you visit is the real site and not a fake.

If you visit a site which is fake it may be very hard or impossible to tell the difference just from looking at it. Fortunately, web sites can have their identity confirmed with a special protocol for security certificates which is included in most all modern web browsers. Generally, when you access a secure part of a site which requires personal information or private account information there will be a lock icon somewhere on your web browser which indicates that a security certificate has been received.

If you believe that you may have visited a web site in error, double click on the lock icon or otherwise access the current security certificate through your web browser and make sure that the name on the certificate matches the company whose web site you think you are visiting. If there is any difference, or if you visit a web site without seeing the security certificate indicated, there is a good chance that the site you are looking at is actually a spoof created to trick people into giving out their account information.

Finally, you can use an online link checker such as LinkScanner. After going to the web site for LinkScanner Online and entering the address of a web site that you are visiting in the box, click on the “Scan” button and the site will help you check to see whether the site in question contains any kind of malware – i.e. software that will attempt to damage your computer or spy on your site.

Follow these tips and you can surf the World Wide Web more safely without falling prey to spoofed web sites!