Make it a point to ‘check and verify web addresses’

PETALING JAYA: Users should be well informed and do the necessary checks to avoid falling victim to fake websites.

Symantec vice-president for sales engineering for Asia Pacific and Japan Sherif El-Nabawi said education was key to preventing people from becoming victims of such sites.

“While fake websites may not always be fraudulent in nature, it is important for users to be aware of the official website that they should be referring to,” he told The Star.

Sherif said one way to identify or differentiate fake websites from the original was to check the address bar and verify it.

If the address appeared suspicious, he said one should do a domain ‘WHOIS’ look-up to check on the owner of the domain.

“The result will tell you the registrar (company that the domain was purchased through), when it was created and expires as well as contact details.

“Another easy way is to check the domain name in Google – if it is a real site, there should be links to that website from other websites.

“If only the domain comes up and no other search result appears for that domain name, then it is very suspicious,” he said.

Users, said Sherif, should also check if the login, create account, and payment pages are secure, adding that many fake or doppelganger sites would not bother to buy a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate.

The SSL certificate secures the transfer of one’s data when sensi- tive information, when creating an account or submitting payment information, is submitted.

Sherif also advised users not to use links in an email to connect to a website unless they were sure it was genuine.

Kuala Lumpur Bar IT and Publication Committee chairman Foong Cheng Leong said other factors to consider included the design and images used on a website.

He said a fake website was usually poorly designed and used low resolution images.

“Some of the contents are also too good to be true.

“Some would also request for information such as login or password, which they normally do not ask,’’ he added.

“Your browser or a good virus scanner would also warn that the website you are visiting is a suspicious site,” said Foong.

Foong said those operating fake websites could be punished under, among others, the Penal Code and Trade Marks Act 1976.