7 Ways to Determine if a Website is Legit or Not

Have you heard of the newest university in town? If not, you should definitely check out the International State College of the Philippines. It boasts of excellent school grounds, out-of-this-world transportation, and even celebrities as deans and professors! If this school peaked your interest, then you’re in for a surprise. Because it’s all make-believe, complete with their own fake website. 

If this just-for-fun trend made an effort to create their own website, how much for those who aim to steal money online? Hence, to avoid being a victim of online scams and malicious websites, here are tips to check whether a website is legit. 

1. Look Up: Check out the Address Bar

Admit it or not, the first thing you check out on a website is the BIG and BOLD section on its homepage. It may be a photo or catchy headline. After all, most fake sites do this to get your attention. But before you go ahead and click that button, inspect the web address bar. Ask yourself, does this site have a security certificate issued by a certificate authority?

 A quick way to check is if it mentions "https", instead of just "http", or even has a padlock icon in front of the website address. This signifies the hypertext transfer protocol, and the 's' means that it uses a secure connection to transfer data you input into the site. While this does not guarantee that it is a legitimate website, it may also signify that the site owner ensured that the site has secured encrypted processes.

2. Take the Next Step: Check the Domain Names

Since you are already looking at a site's address bar, then might as well go to Mr. Google and discover whether the actual domain name exists! Sometimes there are fake domain names that are just used to catch the attention of the prospect victims of fake websites, and because they did not check if a website is legit, then they fall for the scam site's schemes.

 Upon searching for the said name online, find out as much as you can about the company. If there is little to no reference that proves that it is a legit website, then you must avoid becoming a fall victim on this scam site.

Domain Age

It never hurts to go the extra mile to check whether that website is just another of those many scam sites. Hence, you could also determine a website's domain age. Since most domains have security certificate details that are transparent, then you could check as many details you have before transacting.

 Bonus Tip: Mr. Google makes a friendly appearance once again. In there, you can type "Domain Age Checker'" and a list of sites that offers to do it for you will appear. Usually, Google offers legit companies that do the job for you.

3. One Step More: Check for Site's Privacy Settings

A surefire way to check if a specific website's legitimacy is through its privacy settings. Does it have an EV Certificate? Extended Validation or EV Certificates are security certificates you can use to tell consumers that your organization is business registered, paying with a valid credit card, and underwent certificate authentication. 

You can also look into their privacy policies, return policies, and whether visitors who use the login button to use the website have their data collected unknowingly or mandatory to fully enjoy the site. 

It's best to view certificate first before providing any account information, or banking information to avoid being a victim of a homograph phishing attack.

 4. Double Check Your Every Step: Confirm with the Experts

However, in order to check whether what you are dealing with is a legitimate site or another scam website, you have to talk to the experts. Are you buying an affordable house and lot in the Philippines? Then better check with a real estate agent.

 In the same way, when you want to identify whether you are dealing with a fake site or a legitimate website, then you can ask not just any site, but straight to Google. Just copy and paste the URL address here: Google Safe Browsing Transparency Report. It will tell if a website belongs to the various scam websites or if it is among the legitimate companies you can transact with.

5. Dig Deep: Find Real Employees

When trying to identify whether a site is a legitimate company or a malicious website, you need to check if there are "flesh and blood" behind every promotional content of a company.

Nowadays, it's easy to display generic photos, videos, and products in an attempt to make malicious sites seem real. However, most legitimate companies have a solid company brand, including company reviews from their employees and partners.

For instance, if you receive a job offer from a certain company, don't just easily give out your personal information in a form. Pay close attention to those who have previously worked there, or have done business with them.

 6. Dig Deeper: Check Out the Contact Page

Most legitimate companies have their physical address, phone number, and sometimes, even fax numbers stated on their official websites. This is a way to establish trust with their clients and partners, and also works as a site seal saying that this is a safe website to enter sensitive information, such as your financial information, account details, and payment information away from any phishing attack or breach. 

Most sites also include several options for their communication channel, so if there are questions regarding their products and services, then they can respond accordingly.

 7. Beware of Red flags: Notice Spelling Errors or Grammatical Errors

What's a simple way to spot an online fraud? Watch out for these simple mistakes. It may seem a small thing that you can let go of, but that's a red flag that you can easily spot. More often than not, these are telltale signs of fraudulent activities, making you at high risk as a victim of scammers. Just imagine, if they do not care if they have written (typed) in a professional language, how much more if you transact with them? 

 8. Do Your Research: Find out the Company's Social Media Presence

What better way to check whether a website is legit satisfactory or is just an unsafe website, than by checking what others have to say about it? Where will you be able to see these sentiments? On social media, of course. However, this goes beyond Facebook, Twitter, or other better-known social media platforms. You can look into the reviews posted on the said website. Here is where a company review comes in handy.

 For a person who has experienced interacting or even buying from this organization, was it satisfactory? Chances are, the company brand has an account on Better Business Bureau or other similar review sites. Before committing to anything to a site, it pays to check whether it is authentic. Going back to our example earlier, if you want to gain trustworthy insights and credentials for affordable real estate in the Philippines, then you can check both their website and their social media. In there, you'll see that what they say about themselves on the website agrees with what clients say about them on social media.  

Go ahead and check them out!

Website: https://www.lumina.com.ph/

How To Stay Safe Online: Don't Just Click, Inspect it! 

There are so many ways to check the authenticity of websites, but here are just the essentials you need to know. Hackers are becoming advanced in their tactics, that's why it pays to not easily click on a new website or fill up a form if you're not sure whether a website is legit or not. To borrow a famous adage, to avoid being a victim of a scammer, think before you click.