The FBI has provided Internet users with tips for recognizing malicious web stores. According to the U.S. Service, there is an increase in the number of victims being tracked down through fake online stores. The US regulator FTC also reports an increase in the number of shoppers who do not receive ordered goods. These include masks.
Tips to recognize these malicious web stores are:
- check the top level domain;
- check the public whois data of the domain owner and whether the contact details are correct and how long the domain exists;
- if the price or discount is too good to be true then it probably is;
- check their email address, private email addresses are suspicious;
- don’t blindly trust advertised websites on social media;
- check the reviews and complaints of the sites.
Read more about this at: https://www.ic3.gov/media/2020/200803.aspx