WXIN/WTTV – Like the old saying goes: fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
And that’s exactly what some scammers are trying to do with fake websites designed to steal not one but at least two of your credit cards.
Not only is A.I. making it easier for criminals to make websites that look like legitimate shopping sites, according to Scamicide, it’s making it easier for them to get even greedier.
Crooks who make copycat websites often try to get victims to enter credit card information, thinking they’re making a purchase. When the victim enters the card information, thinking they’re buying something, the scammer simply keeps the information and starts making purchases of their own or sells the info to someone else.
However, one card isn’t enough for some bad guys, according to Scamicide. In some cases, when you try to use your credit card, the site might say it was declined and you need to try another card. If you do, you’ve now turned over two credit cards to the bad guys.
Experts point out that even if a website comes up high in an internet search, the scammers may have paid for that high position or tricked the search engine into pushing it toward the top. Scamicide says if you plan to make a purchase on a website, make sure the web address starts with https. The “s” is important because it means your communication on the site is encrypted and most copycat sites aren’t.
Also, if the domain name doesn’t seem at all related to the company name, that’s a sign of a possible fake.
There are also several websites where you can enter a web address and see if it checks out as legitimate or not.
Google Safe Browsing Transparency Report allows you to type in the web address and see if Google thinks it’s a scam. You can also use a site called Whois to see who owns a particular website and how long it’s been registered online.
If you think you’re shopping on a popular website like Amazon or Best Buy, but the search shows the site has only been around for four months and it’s owned by someone in India, it’s a fake site.
