How to Check the Validity of Internet Businesses
Businesses on the Internet offer an affordable alternative to going to the physical store, in many cases. But there may be a chance of fraudulent activity occurring. Proper resources and research skills allow you to investigate Internet businesses for validity and acceptable business practices.
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Instructions
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Check out the Better Business Bureau online at bbb.org for any complaints on the online business. Not only does the Better Business Bureau report the status of a business that is at a physical location, you can also go online to see if any complaints were made on online businesses. When going online, you may see a logo at the bottom of the website that boasts of being verified and having a positive status with the Better Business Bureau.
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Ensure the website is secured. Many websites should have a security certificate that lets you know that the website has implemented security features to ensure that it can not hacked or compromised by anyone else. When making online purchases or entering a secured area of a website where you may have to put in your password or other personal information, check to see if there is a little picture of a lock on the right-hand side near the bottom of your browser. This usually lets you know that the site is encrypted and protected.
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Search for a "Contact Us" and any "Terms and Conditions" link at the bottom of the website. The contact details allow you to contact the company to see it has a valid and working number. You should also be able to email the company and receive any email response in a timely manner from a working email address.
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Find the owner of the business using whois.net Conducting a search on whois.net verifies if the registrant of the businesses website matches who is on whois.net. Search out the domain name in the search field once you get to whois.net. For example, if you wanted to ensure you were on Sears' website you would conduct a search for Sears.com. You will then see the domain servers that were used (the hosting company for the domain name) and also the registrant. The registrant can either be a name of the business owner or the name of the business.
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Tips & Warnings
Word-of-mouth advertising is still effective so check with friends and family to see if they also are patrons of the business you are trying to verify.
You can also visit ripoffreport.com to see if there are any complaints about the particular website in question.
