Fake websites are fooling millions. Here’s to spot them before they steal your money.

A fake website is a trick by scammers to look like a real business. In truth, they don’t sell anything at all. Their real plan is to make you think they do and to get you to pay them money. There are two kinds of fake websites to watch out for: ones that copy a real, trustworthy website, and ones that make up their own special website.

This fake website is pretending to be a jewelry website:

This video shows Jordan Liles, a reporter from Snopes, talking about a fake website that looks like the Kay Jewelers website. Scammers are very good at making websites that look real. If you’re not careful, you might click on a fake link, browse the wrong website, accidentally give away your money, and even risk having your personal information stolen.

This fake website is pretending to be a popular YouTube channel that gives away prizes:

In another video, Jordan Liles shows a fake website that isn’t copying a real one but is its own type of scam. This website uses the name of a famous YouTuber, MrBeast, who is known for giving away money and prizes.

When checking websites, look out for these things:

Domains: Always check the domain name in the URL and email. Fake websites might use domain names with spelling mistakes like techanao.com, hoping you won’t notice. Some use tricky subdomains like www.techanoa.com.us.com. Remember, the real domain is what’s right before the last “.com.” Real companies usually use their own domain for emails, like @techanoa.com, not Gmail or Hotmail.

Design: If a website’s design looks off, like advertising a New Year sale in November, it might be fake. Think of these mistakes as clues that the website is just pretending to be real. Scammers often make small mistakes in the design.

Secure Website: To see if a website is safe, look for a lock icon next to the URL at the top. A locked icon means the page is secure. Also, check if the link starts with HTTPS, which means it’s protected. An open lock or HTTP means it’s not secure, and hackers could easily access your info.

About/Contact Us Page: Scammers might be good with technology but often don’t make convincing stories about their “business.” If the about page doesn’t seem right or if there’s little to no contact info, be careful.

These tips can help you avoid scams and keep your information safe.

Tools to identify fake websites

When checking for fake websites, here are some quick tools to help you:

  1. Domain Tools: This site is trusted and recommended by the Better Business Bureau. It has a “Whois” lookup tool that tells you who owns a website, where it’s from, and when it was made. For example, a fake website pretending to be the YouTuber MrBeast showed it was recently made in São Paulo, Brazil, even though he lives in North Carolina. Its registered email was “abuse@namecheap.com,” which is suspicious.
  2. Scam Detector: This free website checks sites and gives them a score out of 100, telling you how likely it is to be a scam. Even a fake MrBeast website got a score of 62.5, which is pretty high for a scam. This shows that while these tools are helpful, you can’t rely on them completely. You still need to think critically and look deeper than just the score.

With these tools and a sharp eye, you can spot fake websites more easily. If you discover a scam, it’s important to report it to help others, especially if you were tricked by it.