There are many different ways a scammer can create a fake website to dupe unsuspecting people into giving up their information.
Consider a website url, “facebook.org”. This page is a real fake website that my anti-virus program “Bitdefender” blocked before I could enter. Luckily, it is still possible to determine it is fake by paying attention to some signs, even if you don’t have a good anti-virus program.
- The first sign is that the domain name is extremely close to the real domain name, “facebook.com”, but not quite accurate. Sometimes a slight spelling error like “facbook” or a different domain extension, like in our example (org vs com), is what separates the fake one from the real one.
- Another sign is that there is no security certificate, like in our example. Most legit websites will take the time to get a certificate. I use the chrome web browser, and it will tell you whether or not a site has one. It has one if the URL contains “https” or a padlock icon is visible to the left of the URL. However, even if a website may have a certificate, there is a chance it could be a scam.
- A sign that a website is fake, is if it has poor website design. There’s a good amount of scammers who won’t put in the effort to make the website look good. So if a website has odd layouts and strange visual elements, making it look unprofessional, there’s a good chance it might be fake.