It is easy to make trust judgments about a physical business. You can walk in their front door, greet the clerk, touch, feel and see merchandise, and return a defective product to the store. Online, you don’t have the luxury of walking into a physical place, so it is more difficult to tell if a web business is legitimate. Some web-based stores may actually use logos which resemble a trusted name brand, but are not associated with the company at all. The Internet is a vast space and putting up a web site is relatively easy. Consumers who use online businesses need to do their research before turning over their credit card number.
First, get to know the website you plan on using. According to OnGuardOnline.Gov, when you find a website you want to do business with, confirm the company’s physical address and phone number. Look at the returns policies and delivery times for the company. Those should be clearly spelled out so you are not guessing what to do if the item does not fit or is poorly made. Also, know what you’re buying by looking at the physical description, especially the fine print, and to know exactly how much your item will cost including shipping. OnGuardOnline also recommends using a credit card for your purchases as well as keeping the records of your transactions in case there are discrepancies.
You can also check the company’s website address to see if the website is genuine. Start by investigating the web address of the site or the URL. Spoof websites will have website address which look very similar to a legitimate address, but might have additional letters or be misspelled. You can take the URL to InterNIC, the folks who assign IP address and domain names, and do a “Search Whois?” Type in the URL address into the dialog box and press “Submit.” Do not include http://www. Here you can find information about who registered the website and see if it matches the information on the contact page for the site. The dates the site was registered and updated are also available.
Look for stamps of approval from other businesses and consumer reviews. Search for the company and read reviews of the product or service you are thinking of buying. Check to see if there is a Better Business Bureau’s Reliability Seal, or the Good Housekeeping Seal, or other Internet trust organizations. Before you purchase your product and enter in your credit card information, a locked padlock should appear next to the URL line. This indicates the company is using VeriSign which encrypts your financial information so it is not sent out as text over the Internet. It also certifies that the company is who they say they are. If there is a warning after you click on the padlock, the site might be a scam. Never give out your financial information over email say the folks at OnGuardOnline.
Finally, if you got scammed, report it to agencies like OnGuardOnline, the Better Business Bureau, your state’s attorney general’s office and consumer protection division, and the Federal Trade Commission.