NFIB

Avoiding Scams on the Internet
05/ 10/ 2004

by Vicki Gerson

An employee comes to you with what you think is valuable information from a government Web site. You just need to provide the "government" with your credit card number in order to get the information about new commerce rules that will save your business money. Your employee hands you the Web address so you can pay the $39.95 and have the information sent to you.

But guess what? This is not a government Web site. You pay, but the information never arrives.

Imposter Web sites can create headaches for small-business owners. As more and more people use the Internet, scam artists have devised new ways to make money by creating bogus government Web sites. Why government Web sites? Because many services that federal and state agencies offer are free, but Internet scam artists can charge, forcing unsuspecting business owners to pay for government services that are actually free.

Unfortunately, many of these bogus sites are almost exact copies of the real federal government sites, using similar fonts, language and design of the government sites. To many people, it's often impossible to tell the difference between a legitimate government site and an imposter site.

However, business owners in the know can tell the difference and pass this information on to their employees by remembering these specific tips.

Always look at the suffix. Be sure the Internet site that claims to be an official government site ends in ".gov" because no other Web site can legitimately use this suffix. Although many other sites may provide useful information, they are not official government sites. The suffix for these sites can be any of the following: ".net," ".com," ".org" or others.

Keep in mind that some scam artists may be trying to make you believe they are military sites as well. But the only legitimate military sites end in ".mil."

Be careful of sites outside the United States. U.S. sites never have any additional suffix after the ".com." If you see a two letter suffix such as ".de" or ".za" those are sites outside the United States.

Look for the warning signs. If any of these so-called official sites charge you for services or information, that is the warning sign that these sites are bogus. Also be aware of sites that request personal or biographical information. Other than cheating your business, these scam artists may be trying to get information for identify theft, which is a serious problem in the country today.

Another red flag to business owners should be Web sites that claim to be endorsed by the federal government. Federal government agencies never endorse sites. However, an official federal government health site -- ".gov" -- may link its site to other legitimate sites such as the American Cancer Society or the American Heart Association.

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