How to know if a website is reliable?

It is becoming difficult to separate honest websites from scams. Fortunately, it only takes a few clicks to assess whether a website is from a scammer or not. Here are some tips to limit the risks.

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Legal notices

Any site from a professional, whether it offers online sales or not, must display legal notices. In particular, the surname, first name and address, the company name, its postal address and telephone number. These elements must be supplemented by the registration number in the trade and companies register in the case of a commercial activity.

For merchant sites, the general terms and conditions of sale (GTCs) must be clearly indicated: delivery costs and date, payment terms, after-sales service, etc. These are all items that must be checked. And if they don't exist, run away. Go to a site you are used to visit, whether it is a site where you buy your clothes like Zalando, a news site, a site where you are entertained as a parody site or  an online casino site like JazzySpins and practice finding the legal notices !

Website security

During a transaction, most so-called "reliable" sites have the https:// architecture. This is the security of the payment. However, it is not so easy to obtain: it is therefore a fairly sure sign of the reliability of the website you are visiting. 

News sites

To judge the content of an article, the reader must be able to trace the origin of the information. These sources must be mentioned, acknowledged and verified. The authors of the site and the articles must sign under their real names. If all authors use a pseudonym or write anonymously, no information can be considered serious. Moreover, a real information site will have an information page about what it is. It is usually entitled "about us", "who are we? ". Parody sites must clearly state that they are.

Layout, spelling and redirection

A website that is poorly organised, where images are not centred, where text is cut off or overflowing, where certain characters are not recognised is likely to be fraudulent. A site full of mistakes is de facto not very serious. This is a very good indicator: reliable sites have no spelling mistakes. If the site automatically redirects you to a Chinese site, or the promotions are too good for the usually expensive branded products, you can be sure that what you are buying is counterfeit, it's dangerous and punishable by law.

Get into the practice now  and always look for clues as to whether or not it is a serious site. Get into the habit of doing this, it could save you from unpleasant surprises.

Micah Soto

Update 14 February 2021