When determining what makes a website fake, there are a few key identifiers that you should be aware of. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t think to look for anything out of the ordinary when accessing a site because most organizations provide a well designed website that entices you to explore their product or service. However, there are some things that an average person can spot in order to protect themselves from a fake and potentially dangerous website.

When accessing a fake site, be aware of the poor spelling and grammar. When companies want to advertise, they make sure to review the website several times before making it live. If a mis-spelling gets on the webpage, there is usually a webmaster that is tasked with making sure that error is removed as quickly as possible. That’s not to say that one spelling error means the site is fake, but the typical culprits are riddled with mistakes.

Another way to identify if a website is fake or not is to check the domain information and history. Fake websites are often only available for a short period of time. If you suspect that a website may be fake, you can check to see how long the site has been active by checking the domain age. By doing a quick web search, you can verify whether or not a website has been up for 5 years or 5 minutes. Additionally, you can also check the origins of the website to make sure that it’s registered in the same country as the company it’s associated with.

Shopping sites typically have standard means of making payments. You usually enter your credit or debit card information without any other paywall to make your transaction. Fake websites will sometimes try to coerce you into making a purchase using an untraceable payment method like Zell, Cash App or Venmo. Reputable websites want to make sure they have accountability for their financial transactions and want to make the transaction as transparent as possible.

These are just a few examples of what makes a fake website fake. There are several other examples that may not be so obvious and others that stand out even more. It’s imperative for your safety to always be mindful of the sites you access and to look for these clues to indicate if the site you access is fake or not.