VULNERABILITIES
Do you know how to tell if a website is trustworthy and real or not? Many people really can’t tell all these for sure and that’s bad news! We are here to help you fix this!
In the following images you will be presented the most important elements from a website to which you should pay attention to. Always checking them is probably the safest way to protect your personal information.
1. LANDING PAGE
- The webpage and the logo looks the same as the one I am familiar with: sharp, with good grammar and spelling, together with an overall professionalism.
- On the other hand, if it is a new website I don’t know much about, I should pay attention to the details. Real websites invest a lot in their design and don’t have spelling errors or low-quality images.
2. LINK
- The website has a matching URL address to its name or content.
- Also, it has the lock icon on the left of the URL as a sign of safety. Google checks the website for you in order to provide its right status. If you click the lock icon, you should see a message telling you the ‘Connection is safe’.
3. Login or signup form
- What kind of information are they asking for? Should I provide the usual credentials or are they asking for more details like credit card information or personal identification numbers?
- The respectable websites should only ask for the minimum of data and is expected to always be very open about why they need it.
4. ABOUT US PAGE
- This is a very important step.
- The ‘About us’ page reveals a lot about the website. Almost every respectable one should have a detailed about us page regarding the company and their work.
CHECK WHO OWNS THE WEBSITE
The good news is that all websites have to register their domain name so you can check them up online on www.whois.com. The service is completely free and will provide enough details to debunk a suspicious website.
READ ONLINE REVIEWS
A good idea would be to do a background check on the company to see if they are who they claim to be. There are chances that someone else has reported them already and you could find this out before being scammed yourself.