Topic: Small Guide - How to detect a website scam - page 2. (Read 334 times)

That's true. That's why we always have to be careful, whether the site is beautiful or ugly.

But I think that even if you don't hire a designer to make the site, use pre-made templates. I think that any credible project should spend some time, to at least remove irrelevant information and add minimal information about the project.

But I understand that for some people this is not always easy.

In as much as scammers are not static. You cannot have a 100% laid down rules in bursting them, but this article is a very good guide.
I once involved in a scam project, I looked up for WHOIS and the domain information was cool. Having extended upto 10yrs and yet it was a scam project.
Some scammers are professionals and very smart.
Method of deposit and withdrawal is a very big flag, kudos for pointing it out.

Though some projects might be real from start and later becomes a scam due to some circumstances or when leadership is changed.

In 2018, during the ICO boom, the forum was full of scammers. But some of them were so inventive that they did not spare money for the colorful design of their scam. They rented an office, made a high-quality website, so it was difficult to find a fake white document there, there were no signs of copying, and, importantly, they hired actors who allegedly covered this project on all news channels. It was beautifully framed enough that people who wanted to invest did not doubt that this project would be legal.
But here on the forum, they were exposed.
I all this to the fact that fraudsters are quite difficult to identify by all known patterns. Sometimes they go beyond, and that is what helps them to deceive people. It’s hard to say exactly what kind of things help them deceive since this is where their quick wit and cunning work. Therefore, before investing your money anywhere, a thorough analysis is necessary, after passing which, there should still be more distrust than confidence.

Scammers aren't always incompetent, and legitimate users aren't always competent. So, while judging a book by its cover can prevent you from getting scammed, it definitely isn't to say that someone who has a poorly designed website is automatically a scammer. I think that's important to note. The thing is most people want to make money, and in this day, and age the internet basically allows them to reach more people than they ever could, which theoretically means more more since there could potentially be more customers. However, those people might not be web designers, developers, and instead might resort to using a template which is either terrible or used on mass.

I think the better indicator would be if they've taken time to fill in the details of the website, for example I see this a lot, websites which haven't bothered to even fill in their team or staff, and so they just have stock images. While, again this doesn't automatically scream scam to me, its particularly concerning if they're using those pictures, and they don't come with the theme they're using itself, since it means they've made the conscious decision to get stock images, upload them to their website, to basically appear legit, without actually revealing themselves. I'd rather them stay anonymous that using this trick.

However, back to the point most people starting out might actually offer a legit service, they just haven't got the funds for a proper developer, and therefore resort to commonly used themes, with most resorting to using WordPress.

Unfortunately, there's no real black, and white approach there's only indicators, and your gut instinct. Although, every legitimate business should be looking to make the process as trust less as possible, whether that's using a escrow, or providing a ways of verifying claims.

Small Guide - How to detect a website scam
Although there is more and more information on how to avoid falling into online fraud, every year millions of people continue to fall for online store/service scam's, which apparently offer fantastic prices, but in reality only have the objective of stealing the data of the credit cards and victims' money.

With more than 15 years developing websites, and understanding how they work, allow me to present some tips, which can help you understand if a website is a fraud or not. To be able to understand if you are on a scan site or not, it is important to observe and act, to avoid falling into a scam.



--- OBSERVE ---

1. Website design
A reliable company seeks to have harmony in the website design, and that reflects the "spirit" of the company and that becomes appealing to the target audience. But, usually a scam site has a basic design and not very elaborate. Often the logo has nothing to do with the rest of the site design. There are different types of letters (fonts) in the middle of a text. The colors of titles, links, menus, do not create a logical harmony (for example, the main color is red, and menu buttons are blue).

This happens because the criminal's objective is to have the site up and running as quickly as possible and easy to replicate, so he uses the base templates of the program he is using on the site. As a rule, these templates are very basic, because their purpose is to be used in test platforms. A graphically appealing template always forces you to spend more time to get it operational. For the criminal this is a waste of time, he wants something simple and easy, to create 10 identical websites at the same time just with different names.


2. Website structure
Another point that can easily be seen is how the site is organized, its structure. On a reliable site, the menus are usually clear and have several options that help the visitor to navigate the site and find what he wants. It also has pages like "About Us", help shopping with "FAQ", with a contact page, and legal information on how to use the site. On the other hand, scam sites have extremely basic and unclear menus. And many times doesn't have any of the common pages or when they do they are not easy to access or with unclear content. Or buttons on the menu that just don't work.

This happens because organizing all this structure involves several hours of work, so that everything works well. The criminal doesn't want to waste time, he wants to have the site up and running as quickly as possible, in order to get victims.


3. Content of information pages
A company wants information about you to be as clear as possible, and that's why it tries to tell its story, explain clearly how the site works, how the person can make complaints, how orders are sent, among other things. As for a site scan, it is normal not to display this information. And even if it does, normally the content is very vague or has a very poorly constructed text or with errors, and it is sometimes possible to notice that an automatic translation system was used.

This happens because the source content of the templates and programs used is used. Usually they already include a text for the usage policies, for the company's history, among others. Remember, this content is for testing purposes, so if the information contained is extremely basic or vague, something is wrong. Also, normally this content is in English, so if the site is not in English, you can easily see if it was automatically translated or not. For a criminal, these things don't matter, he wants the site to work.


4. Contacts
Companies want to communicate as best as possible with their customers, this is a golden rule for business. That is why it is concerned with having several ways to communicate with customers: email, telephone, store address, chat, etc. But a criminal wants to talk to people as little as possible. Usually has no contact information, having only as little as possible as a contact form. No email, phone or addresses. And when you have that information sometimes it doesn't make sense, like phone numbers 123 456 789 or 222 333 444; contradictory addresses, US-based type and only have stores in London.

This happens because whoever builds the templates already puts this contradictory information on purpose. First, because a template is just a template to be edited for the store that will use it; second because it helps to facilitate when it is a fraud site or not. A criminal will not waste time changing the content, he limits himself to changing the basics and he notices the most common pages, hence the information becomes contradictory when browsing the site.


5. Prices
If it's too cheap... it's not (or hardly) true. There are actually outlet stores that offer branded products at more affordable prices, but the reasons that lead to these prices are always very well explained, so that the customer can understand what he is buying and the reason for the prices charged. In the case of a site scan, normally the prices shown have an extremely low value compared to the common value of the product. This usually indicates two things: fake content or site scan. As the criminal does not change the content of the site, he also does not explain the reason for such low prices.

This happens because this is where the criminal will lure the victim, try to get the person to buy a very expensive product at an extremely low price.


6. Payment methods
A reputable store offers several forms of payment, usually the most common in the country of origin and globally accepted. Usually, in addition to the traditional credit card, it is possible to use PayPal, and possibly another payment method. On the scan sites things are different, as a general rule only accepts payments by credit card or bank transfer, and sometimes even Western Union. And never use PayPal or similar.

This happens, because the only ways for the criminal not to be caught and to be able to steal the victim's money is by using the credit card (to keep the data of the same) and by bank transfer (which normally, when the person discovers that it was deceived, there is no way to get the money back).


--- HOW TO ACT ---

1. Confirm you are on the real site
Often scan sites are built to look like a brand's original sites. But usually the only way for the person to reach these sites is through some social network or in an email (never click on links in emails coming from people you don't know). So, if you find something strange in the website address, or in the points mentioned above, go to Google and search for the brand. Then open the official site, if the other site is almost a copy it is almost certainly a fraud.


2. Idade e dono do site
The address of all sites are registered in someone's name and have an expiration date. The contact information and name of the holder is not always visible for privacy reasons. But usually a reputable company presents this information without any problems. Regarding the validity of the domain it is always possible to know. To find this information, just look for sites that provide the WHOIS of a domain, such as www.who.is . But there are other sites, and usually country-specific domains, this information can be accessed from the company/organization that manages those domains.

Usually, reliable companies register the domain for several years, they are not limited to just 1 year, because the more years they register at the same time, the cheaper it is. In the case of a site scan, it is normally only valid for 1 year. The criminal knows that the site will only work for a short time and the domain owner's information is hidden or is only from the company where the domain is registered.

This can be a very simple way of figuring out what kind of "person" is behind a site and whether it has long-term reliability. Of course, a domain registered only for one year does not automatically indicate that it is scan, but the combination of the factors already mentioned, maybe it is.


3. Seek the opinion of others
There are many sites on the internet where you can report your experience with a site. So, a good way to know if you might have problems with a site is to look for the experiences of other users of that site. This can be a good way to find out more about both a scan site and a trusted site. But remember the opinion of others, it may not reflect 100% of reality, you should always assess the situation for yourself.

One way to find reviews about a site is to Google something like: "xpto-xpto-xpto.com reviews".


--- TRAINING ---
How about doing a little exercise and checking out these tips for yourself?
Here's a scan site and a reliable site that you can compare and understand the differences. For safety, I will indicate what is scan and what is not.

SCAN - www[.]marmotaushop[.]com (do not shop on this site, do not download any files - the site may stop working at any time)
TRUE - www.marmot.com



End note: Remember that these are just a few tips, and they don't always apply. There are schemes that are very well designed and more difficult to detect. Always evaluate carefully when using an online store/service that you have never used before and that is new.