{"id":301,"date":"2022-10-03T17:19:29","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T17:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/zkoch001\/?p=301"},"modified":"2022-10-10T22:33:28","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T22:33:28","slug":"entry-six-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/zkoch001\/2022\/10\/03\/entry-six-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Entry Six"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Can you spot three fake websites and compare them to three real websites, plus showcase what makes them fake?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

One of the easiest ways for people to become susceptible to hackers or other forms of online attacks is through visiting unsecure or fake websites. By visiting these websites, the individual unknowingly victimizes themselves and they are very likely to obtain a virus or have their personal information compromised. So why don’t people just avoid these fake websites altogether?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most fake websites look almost identical to real ones. There are very few minor differences that differentiate a fake website to a real one that most likely wouldn’t be spotted unless someone was actively looking out for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These websites appear to have the same names or destinations as typical websites the everyday user would visit. The thing with fake websites is that hackers will create a website that millions of people are bound to visit, like Google and Amazon. Or, they may create websites that entice the consumer such as news sites or social media sites. Nevertheless, by looking at the hyperlinks, an individuals can decipher if a website is fake or not.
How to tell a website is fake by hyperlinks<\/strong>:<\/span>
Address Bar:<\/strong> HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, on the other side of the coin is HTTPS<\/strong> which is Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure<\/strong>. All scam websites lack S<\/strong>, but not all websites lacking the S<\/strong> are scam websites. To be on the safe side, avoid entering any personal information unless there is an S<\/strong>.
Domain Name<\/strong>: Scam websites often have spelling errors or try to subsitute letters for numbers. For instance:
oldominionuniversity – There’s a missing D in old and dominion, and ODU almost never spells out their full school name for websites.
g00gle and amaz0n – they use 0 to replace O. It’s easy to miss this but is a surefire way to determine the website is fake.
Domain Age:<\/strong> By using https:\/\/whois.domaintools.com\/<\/a>, you can determine a website is fake by looking up its age and other details. When putting ODU.Edu into the bar, we find out that the website is 13,000 days old as where the website is located and contacts for the website. Fake websites are often really young, or might be based in some unknown or barren location.
Domain Extensions:<\/strong> The end of the domain, such as .com, .edu. org, .gov, etc are also minor indicators of a website is fake or not. A good portion of fake websites will end in .com, but there are other fake websites that might end .org or other extensions. One can compare extensions to real websites such as amaz0n having .org, when the real amazon has .com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, I have provided three more websites. Everything about these websites appears secure outside of the missing S<\/strong> in HTTP. But once again, just having HTTP doesn’t make the website fake. What makes these websites fake is the content within them.
How to tell a website is fake by content<\/strong>:<\/span>
Spelling Errors:<\/strong> Real websites will contain correct grammar and punctuation throughout its webpages, while most fake websites will an obnoxious amount of spelling errors. Of course, keep in mind that not all websites will contain spelling errors. Additionally, one or two spelling errors is common among real websites. BUT if there is an obnoxious amount, then there’s little chance it’s real.
Misinformation: <\/strong>A fake website will contain misinformation. Great examples are to dhmo and weathergraphics websites I included above. While they look legit, the information on them is wrong and is there to mislead you. A great way to determine if a website is real is to fake check the website and see if there are any reliable sources.
User Interface:<\/strong> Unless the website is intentionally trying to have an early 2000s feel, fake websites will have a messy and confusing user interface. They will use crazy fonts, have obnoxiously annoying ads, and an overall early 00’s aesthetic. Once again, not all websites with this aesthetic is fake but a majority are.
Great Deals:<\/strong> Abide by the saying “if it’s too good to be true, that’s because it is”. I’ve had personal experience where I found an expensive item I wanted for half off, and was close to purchasing it. Upon further research, the website I was on was a fake one that looked identical to the real one (with minor differences). Before following through with a deal made on a website, fact check the website. Additionally, never make purchases outside of a secure vendor such as Paypal.
Virus Scan:<\/strong> Finally, before clicking a website hyperlink, the best thing you can do is to check to see if the virus is safe using https:\/\/www.virustotal.com\/<\/a> or any other scanning site. These can scan websites and files for viruses to ensure you’re safe. If a website scans as clean, then it is most likely safe. However, it doesn’t mean the site is real. It just ensures you’re safe upon clicking the link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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fake websites** <\/strong>These websites are entirely fake and were created for the sole purpose of this exercise. Please be mindful and do not follow the hyperlinks to these websites. While I did create these hyperlinks to demonstrate what a typical fake website hyperlink might appear to look like, I have no idea what lies on the other end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

real websites***<\/strong> These websites are real and are entirely safe to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

fake websites^<\/strong> These websites are entirely fake and were created for the sole purpose of educating students on how to identify a fake website. The websites are not harmful to look through but should not be taken seriously. For the purpose of this exercise, I will be using them as examples of fake websites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can you spot three fake websites and compare them to three real websites, plus showcase what makes them fake? Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23040,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[9,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/zkoch001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/zkoch001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/zkoch001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/zkoch001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23040"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/zkoch001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/zkoch001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":344,"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/zkoch001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions\/344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/zkoch001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/zkoch001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/zkoch001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}