Every day, millions of people get sucked into Internet scams and tricks that end up costing them dearly. It can be difficult to know if something on the Internet is legit or some kind of scam. According to Doug Alton’s weekly Household Newsletter, here are Doug’s Top Ten Signs a website is not legitimate.
— If it plays a video that has the controls removed, it’s a scam — stop watching! You can’t fast forward, pause, or even tell how long the video is. That’s because they are only going to give you a long list of reasons telling you why you should send them money. Stop watching — exit the page. They will never give you the information that you clicked on the link to get — not even if you send them money. It’s a scam, run the other way.
— You want to leave the page, but keep hitting up against something like, “Are you sure you want to leave this page?” Legitimate sites don’t do this, but nearly all of the scam sites do. Run the other way.
— Popups that try to get you to sign up for their propaganda or “free updates” before you even get a chance to read the article. Bad sign. Major red flag!
— The text is actually photographed onto the page. You can’t copy and paste names or numbers because the text is really part of a photo instead of real text. Many scam sites and many scams on craigslist do this. When you notice this, run the other way. The only reason they would do this is to prevent you from copying the text, and to prevent computer robots from reading it. They are hiding something.
— If you see the words: “weird” or “trick,” and especially if you see “weird trick” it’s a scam, don’t fall for it.
— Anything that promotes free energy is a scam. Solar panels are not free, so the energy still costs you money. But there are many people who wish to believe in some hidden form of free energy. They’re all scams!
— If you try to exit out to close the page, and another page pops up, you may have a virus. Either way, shut down the site and restart your computer. Run an antivirus scan immediately.
— Most “work at home jobs” are a scam.
— Risk free trials are NOT “risk free” if you have to give a credit card or bank account number. They will automatically bill you if you don’t spend weeks trying to cancel. It happens every day.
— Anything that claims to treat or cure a disease that modern medicine does not already do is a scam.
Cyberspace is a great, big, mostly wonderful place, but it is not immune to crime and hustlers wishing to do us harm. It’s important to be wary of the many dangers lurking within. You can protect yourself if you are diligent to learn these ten signs and put them into practice. Stay safe out there!
This article was contributed by Mary Hunt.
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