How can check if a website is legitimate

I highly recommend working with them. Their personal attention and care for my unique needs as a business have been so impressive, we have moved ALL of our accounts to be under their watch. We are so excited to see how this move improves our business for years and decades to come. Thank you so much to everyone at Home Bank!

But not many people want to go under 30 feet of ice in Antarctica or in a thousand feet of water in the North Sea to fix an oil wellhead. That makes us very good, but not very big. When the virus hit we kept our employees on the payroll as our government requested. Our local TV stations exposed our plight. Home Bank of California came to our rescue and got us coverage in less than 24 hours. I secured an SBA loan, but the terms were steep and the interest was high. Safety Report When you submit a website you can view its safety report, which includes names of blacklists used for scanning and a link to their respective report, details about the website's IP address, domain creation date, server location, and more.

Popular Windows Software We have created many useful Windows software, here are the most popular:. Checking over 60 databases from companies such as Google, Comodo, Opera, Securi and more. This tool can help decide if the website is safe to visit and share information with. Click here to get your Free Report Seal for your Website.

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Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article methods. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Article Summary. Method 1.

Type the website's name into a search engine and review the results. If the site in question is a hazard or simply an overwhelmingly illegitimate site , a cursory Google check will be enough to inform you accordingly. Make sure you're looking at reviews and feedback from sources unaffiliated with the website. Look at the website's connection type. A website that has an "https" tag is usually more secure--and therefore more trustworthy--than a site using the more common "http" designation.

This is because "https" sites' security certification is a process most illegitimate sites don't bother with. Check the site's security status in your browser's address bar. For most browsers, a "safe" website will display a green padlock icon to the left of the website's URL. Evaluate the website's URL. A website's URL consists of the connection type "http" or "https" , the domain name itself e. Even if you've verified that the connection is secure, be on the lookout for the following red flags: [5] X Research source Multiple dashes or symbols in the domain name.

Domain names that imitate actual businesses e. One-off sites that use a credible site's templates e. Domain extensions like ". These sites tend not to be credible. As such, they don't carry the same credibility as a ". Look for bad English on the site. If you notice a large number of poorly-spelled or missing words, generally bad grammar, or awkward phrasing, you should question the site's reliability.

Even if the site in question is technically legitimate insofar as it isn't a scam, any inaccuracies in language will also cast doubt on the accuracy of its information, thereby making it a poor source. Watch out for invasive advertising. If your selected site has a stunningly large number of ads crowding the page or ads that automatically play audio, it's probably not a credible site.

Additionally, consider looking elsewhere if you encounter any of the following types of ads: [8] X Trustworthy Source PubMed Central Journal archive from the U. National Institutes of Health Go to source Ads that take up the whole page Ads that require you to take a survey or complete some other action before continuing Ads that redirect you to another page Explicit or suggestive ads.

Use the website's "Contact" page. Most sites provide a Contact page so that users can send questions, comments, and concerns to the owner of the site. If you can, call or email the provided number or email address to verify the legitimacy of the website. If the site in question doesn't have a Contact page listed anywhere, it should be an immediate red flag. Use a "WhoIs" search to research who has registered the website's domain. All domains are required to display contact information for the person or company who has registered the domain.

Some things to look out for: [10] X Research source Private registration: It's possible register a domain privately, where a "private registration" provider serves as the domain's contact, instead of the actual owner. If a domain uses private registration, consider this a red flag. Contact information is suspicious: For example, if the name of a registrant is "Steve Smith," but the email address is "ramsaybolton hushmail.

Recent registration or transfers: A recent registration or transfer of a domain may indicate that a site is not trustworthy.