With billions of webpages online it can oftentimes be hard to discern if certain sites are legitimate or scam and virus based. Luckily there are several online tools that users can take advantage of that will allow them to determine the legitimacy of the websites. These simple tools can show users how long a site has existed, if the site contains viruses and even the country where the site is located.
Instructions
1. Check with the Whois directory, which is the ultimate way to find information about websites. Whois information can provide such statistics as when the site was created, who owns the site, the address of the site owner and even contact information for the site owner. If a site looks like a scam, the Whois directory can let you know if it was just created and if the supposed "U.S. based store" is registered in Nigeria or some other high fraud area. It's a good rule of thumb that if a site is registered as "Private," meaning no info is shown, that it's a problem site.
2. Check the Better Business Bureau. This is useful if the site you are visiting is an e-commerce based website. Most major and even smaller respected sites are registered with the BBB. Simply enter in the company website's URL via the BBB's official search page and you can find out about the company, including any complaints that have been filed and the BBB rating of the company.
3. Search for websites using Google to avoid malicious sites. Google now incorporates a special offering automatically that will warn users of "malicious" sites. If you've seen a message that explains that the site may be passing viruses with a link that says "Get me out of here," you've already experienced this great offering from Google. Usually these warning comes from pages with reported spyware and adaware included, and in most cases, they even tell users what malicious practices are being used on the website.
4. Check out user feedback sites. This is another great offering if you are shopping online. ResellerRatings is the No. 1 choice, however, other shopping comparison sites such as Bizrate and PriceRunner also offer ratings for the companies that use their sites. Using shopping comparison sites is also a great way to find legitimate businesses, as they use their own checks and balances.
