Tips on Detecting a Fake Website

Knowing where to look in order to detect a fake website is a very important skill to have. Many have lost their online accounts by mistakenly typing their login details on a fake website.

I have made mention of avoiding visits to sites that have Http as part of their url or address in some of my posts. This is because they are prone to network eavesdropping.

But that is not enough; there are still many “https” enabled websites that are spam or phishing sites.

Here is another tip that can help you detect a fake site.

Irrespective of the fact that Google is working tirelessly to help filter spam and phishing sites, you will not, because of that, give up your own security responsibility to google. There may be times when your mistaken click on a link can cause you great harm. Remember, a machine can not do more than the data it is fed with.

One thing hackers mostly do is mimic a site’s look and domain name through social engineering to lure users into inputting their confidential details into the site.

Before you start using any popular website,make sure of the website address, Try as much as you can to look at the address bar.

Taking a closer look at the pictures below, you will definitely think they are PayPal website.

Watch closely at the url or web address on the address bar,

Paypal’s correct address or URL is https://paypal.com

But what we have below is… https://paypal.account.getbill-service.com

At first glance, you will think you are on a PayPal website.

The second address is even worse. https://paypal.com.security.alert-security-manager.com

Always be conscious of your address bar. Google do most often flag insecure sites “not secure” on the address bar.

But if you don’t pay attention, you won’t notice.

Don’t ignore the sign when you see them.

Be a conscious internet user.