How to Take Down a Fake Website Before It Destroys Your Brand

While this won’t always protect you from fraudsters, the padlock (and the certificate information) is a good indicator that you’re visiting a legitimate site. The first and most basic method of spotting a fraudulent website is to make sure the domain name is the one you truly intend to visit. Authentic UGGs feature a thick, luxurious lining that not only contributes to the boot’s loose fit but also provides significant insulation. This real sheepskin lining should feel soft and plush, not thin or synthetic. The color of the lining should be consistent throughout and complement the exterior color of the boot without any noticeable discrepancies or uneven dyeing. Despite common misconceptions, real UGG boots are designed to fit loosely around your feet, not snugly.

However, scammers will often make mistakes when it comes to the text and functionality of these sites. They are often paired with ad campaigns on social media platforms to drive traffic. These ads can copy your brand’s content and logo to lure unsuspecting customers even without using your keywords in the ad copy. Red Points’ robust website takedown solution and dedicated Customer Success Manager assigned to each customer do 97% of the work on reporting and taking down fake and scam websites. If a fake website is involved with criminal activities like phishing, report the domain to Google’s safe browsing team to get it de-indexed and stopped from coming up in search results. So, if you’re ever questioning the authenticity of a website, another one of the things you should do is check its domain age.

What is malvertising? Can I trust Google search results?

Counterfeit boots will sometimes be wrapped in cheap plastic and not crinkly paper with the UGG cryto news bahrain archives logo printed on it. Bags are also not used unless you ask for them in person at an official UGG store. Check for a label displaying clear and accurate product information, including style, size, and color. The wording should be precise, without any spelling errors, which can be a dead giveaway of a counterfeit. As a general rule, beware of URLs that contain lots of numbers, what seem like random letters and numbers, or multiple hyphens, which could be designed to trick you.

Business & Government

They focus on describing the product features rather than sharing personal stories. If a shopping website displays tons of 5-star reviews while shoppers are reporting it on other trusted third-party review sites, those glowing reviews are likely fake. When it comes to scam shopping websites, the buyer will often be responsible for the return shipping cost — a number that won’t always be disclosed. Check a company’s shipping timeframe to see if their delivery times are over two weeks.

The good news is that bogus shopping sites aren’t hard to spot, once you’re aware of the risk. Sites that are riddled with design issues and spelling and grammatical errors could be a sign that a site isn’t safe. Pharming attacks and spoofed sites are designed to trick you into providing your personal and financial information to what appears to be a site you already know and trust.

As mentioned above, scam sites can come and go in the blink of an eye. Therefore, if you’re questioning a website’s legitimacy, enter the domain or URL into a lookup service such as whois.com or Icann Lookup to see when it was registered. Last year, CHOICE uncovered several examples of scam ads being promoted on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, and search engines like Google.

• These ads had KEEN’s logo, font, and imagery while advertising unrealistic deals like 90% off products.
• The thing those payment methods have in common is that it’s very difficult to get money back once it’s spent.
• You should be especially wary, Marie advises, if you don’t see anything besides a contact form.
• Another thing to note is when the company falsely claims to be a local brand, or leaves their company location ambiguous.
• As soon as you put it into the algorithm, the algorithm will spin and show it to a lot of people, and only until enough people report it would it be taken down.

Recognizing Fake Online Shopping Sites

If the website you’re using is a scam, there’s a chance victims might be using these forums to warn others. If you’re using a computer, you can hover over the link with your cursor. If it shows a different domain than what you expected, it may be a guide to trading and investing in cryptoassets unsafe. If a link doesn’t look safe (or you just aren’t sure), it’s best to not click it.

With scams abounding on the Internet, along with the growing amount of enticing social media ads, it can be hard to know who to trust or how to protect your information. A. There’s not a whole lot of controls enforced by the social media companies to immediately screen out those fraudulent or scam-based sites. A. A lot of these big-name consumer brands, they do not allow any retailer to sell their product below a certain price.

But seeing the URL when you do this isn’t always enough to know if a link is safe. I recently received an email claiming to be from Apple, saying I was due a refund for AppleCare+ from an iPhone I traded in several years ago. The first thing I did was hover my cursor over the link in the email.

Real Uggs have Flexible Soles, and the UGG Logo and Pattern

One of the best ways to check whether a website is valid is by taking a close look at the website’s contact info. The more information, the better — vague contact details should make you suspicious. If the company lists a phone number, give that number a call and see if a real person picks up. Each year, tens of thousands of people in the Sitejabber community share thailand to become top destination for crypto currency vacations stories of getting scammed.