Whether you land on a website by searching for something specific, or you receive an email urging you to visit a site for a great deal, it’s important to know which websites are trustworthy. Internet predators are out there lurking, waiting to either capture your personal information or infect your device with viruses and malware. Even more scary? If your children are browsing the web or even watching TikTok, clicking on a suspicious link could put them in danger. Website safety has become paramount in our society.
HTC’s Website Safety Tips
Safe, legitimate websites ensure that any purchases you make are safe, and that you’re not getting scammed. They also protect your personal information like your address, phone number and social security number so they can’t land in the wrong hands.
So how do you know if you can trust the site you’re on? Here’s what to look for:
HTTPS When Entering Personal Information
Up in the search bar, you will see the url of the website. If it’s secure, it will begin with HTTPS, which stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. The “Secure” part means there is a secure channel for data transmission. Any data sent or received is encrypted, making it much more difficult for scammers to intercept and for hackers to understand. If a url only begins with HTTP, it’s best to avoid making any purchases.
A Fishy Domain Name
If you land on a page that has a great deal on a purse or shoes you’ve been wanting, take a look at the url. Katespade.com might be spelled Katespaid.com. The Nike url might say Nikedeal.com. Even if you followed a link from an email you thought was safe, check the url when you land there. The slightest discrepancy in the domain name means cybercriminals are trying to trick you.
Low-Quality Content
Legitimate businesses invest in creating informative, well-written pages. A couple of typos might be okay, but if you see pages where paragraphs repeat the same sentences over and over again, there is poor grammar and spelling errors, or linguistic errors that sound like they could be written in another country, the site is probably not trustworthy.
Lots of Pop-Up Ads
A company that wants to please customers doesn’t want to annoy them with intrusive ads. Many times, those pop-up ads are just there to entice you to click on them so they can infect your computer.
Contact Information
If you can’t find where the company is located, it’s probably not a trustworthy site. Legitimate businesses will have an “About Us” section detailing their history and even introduce members of their team. They’ll also have a physical address and phone number. Sites that are just there to scam you won’t have any of that.
Offers that are Too Good to Be True
It’s exciting to find a popular product on a website that NO ONE can find, and it’s on sale for a hot price. Just make sure you check everything we discussed above before entering your credit card information. The pink Stanley cup for $5 is probably not legitimate, and neither is a FREE Apple watch. In many cases, the sole purpose of the website is to steal your money and run.
HTC SecureIT Web Security Keeps You Safe While You Surf
Luckily, HTC offers a security system for your Internet to keep hackers and predators out. With SecureIT Web Security software, your information stays private, and parental controls keeps your kids from landing on pages that could be trouble. For only $5.99/month, our complete protection package can give you peace of mind every time your family logs in.
To add SecureIT to your HTC Internet plan, contact us at 618-939-6112 and enjoy a greater peace of mind today!
Harrisonville Telephone Company is a provider of reliable, cost-effective Internet (for streaming, gaming, surfing, viewing, listening, downloading, and more), television (hundreds of channels, free HD, VOD access and more), and phone ( unlimited local and long distance, voicemail, caller ID, etc.). Want to learn more about our great home or business bundles? Visit our website, call us at 618-939-6112, or fill out our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.
