Accidentally stumbling upon malicious, insecure, or underhanded websites happens. It’s hard to believe that there are people who actually build such pages. Fraudsters don’t really care about the state of the net. The first line of defense is running what you want to search for through a search engine. These sites are programed to only bring back relevant, higher grade sites. Many times people will create a page or site with a web address very similar to that of the legitimate company. Typing the address in directly to your browser, you run the risk of opening this incorrect address. If you do it in a search engine, they will often correct this for you. This can fix a large portion of that problem of visiting fraudulent websites. If you do get caught on one, file a complaint with the FTC. It will make sure you as well as others stay safe on the web.
Of course there are also some out there would would prefer to just hack sites.
Here’s a few other tips when it comes to browsing the net safely and, more importantly, in an knowledgeable state:
What to look for (and ultimately avoid)
- Broken graphics, grammatical errors, misspellings, and poorly written sentences.
- A sense of urgency or immediate action required.
- Requests for personal or confidential information.
- Links that go to an unknown Web site or a Web site that looks similar but the site address may be slightly altered. Recheck any typed web addresses or URLs to ensure it was entered correctly before providing personal information on a site.
- Be suspicious of an information-collecting Web page that is not linked to a known home page for the company, or the home page has an “under construction” message on it.
- Look for the presence of an “@” symbol anywhere in the page URL. This is usually indicative of a fraudulent Web site.
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