How to Know if an Online Company Is Safe to Deal With
How to Know if an Online Company Is Safe to Deal With
Good day to you all, and welcome to another Ultimate BargainBrute.Com How-To Article.
Today how you can ensure the online company you are contemplating dealing with is both genuine and safe to deal with before you pass on any of your data or enter into any contract.
The world wide web has, since its conception, allowed an individual to set up in business and work if he or she wants, from the confines of their own homes, primarily using the kitchen table as the headquarters of their global enterprise.
Today, up-and-coming business-minded people no longer have to spend a fortune on corporate offices. The world has become its oyster. For that, we should thank the inventors of the worldwide web.
However, some of these global online businesses have a dark side; they have just one goal hidden in their business model, a simple model that cost Americans, in fact the whole world, billions of hard-earned dollars.
The Federal Trade Commission states that 1 in 5 Americans reported an imposter scam; some even came from someone pretending to be a family friend down on their luck requesting money. This intolerable scam managed to rake in a colossal $328 million.
The above is just the tip of the iceberg. The same government bureau also heard from a further 2.7 million people, all of whom had been victims of online company fraud.
So what can we do? Always remember you can never fully insulate yourself from company fraud. However, below, we have included a few steps to make your online life a little safer.
First up, never deal with an online company if they are not using an SSL certificate. You can see this immediately by looking for the “S” in HTTPS; you will also see a little green padlock next to the web address in the browser. (an example of an excellent website address utilizing this encryption method is below)
https://www.bargainbrute.com/
Make sure that any website includes a correct, up-to-date, telephone number and address. If it does not have this info, it should raise a red flag.
Remember, although company websites should also include email addresses in their contact information, email addresses and domains are relatively easy to obtain, so they should not be as trustworthy as an excellent, old-fashioned physical address.
Always take your time browsing through any online company website, even if it has a good security certificate, as most online scam websites have been thrown together with little thought to their content.
Some say one thing on page one, then completely contradict themselves on page two. This is a definite red flag.
Take a look at the company’s website policy pages. Most legitimate websites always have a term of use and privacy policy; most sites today also have a cookies policy that clearly states that they use cookies to track your visit.
Decent content. I have never come across a scam online company portfolio with any proper material. Phony referral sites, for instance, will present you with a mountain of fake logos and stock images set up just to make them look legit.
Check out how they accept payments. Legitimate companies will never request you to send cheques or cash or any other shady payment method. Legitimate websites will only request payments through accepted, secure payment methods, such as PayPal and other accepted electronic methods, all of which will always offer refunds where possible.
The company’s registration date can be a source of a mountain of information, including the name of the person who registered the company in the first place. (great for research if you have problems in the future)
While checking the above, also take time to review the creation date and when it will expire. I recently created it and may expire shortly. This may be a red flag that it was made just for the period of the scam.
Valuable tools to help you:
The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
An excellent resource for determining who is the actual owner of the business website that you are researching.
Google Search
Search for the company name. Locate reviews and information about the company and whether it’s a scam or not. If you don’t find something, try searching “[company name] scam,” you may be surprised at just what it turns up.
Of course, it is possible to control a positive online presence, but lousy feedback is harder to hide.
Well, folks, we have come to an end with another Ultimate BargainBrute.Com How-To Article. I do hope you enjoyed it, and I thank you for taking the time to read it. It is most appreciated.
My thanks also go to my hosts, America’s favorite place to shop online, for giving me the establishment to write upon. Pop over and join the thousands who have made BargainBrute.Com America’s favorite place to shop online.
Kind Regards and have a happy but safe online website experience.
