How to Check if an Online Company is Legitimate, Genuine and Trusted? Protect Yourself from Money Scams

To make money online, we do some online businesses to sow and reap the fruits. Day by day, people are searching for online business such as work from home jobs. Unfortunately scams are everywhere and even at online. It's an inauspicious aspect of life. If a company's website looks like legitimate, we like to join with them blindly without any further knowledge about the company. 

Many scam websites psychologically attacks common people. They babble out on how they treat and benefit the customer's demand. Even they talk about how the company itself getting benefits. This is because they are dedicated to cheat others online. 

Truly nobody wants to get scammed and loose money. There are so many online business options that are available in these days, it is very difficult to identify who is telling truth and who is not. 

There is an old proverb that says All That Glitters Is Not Gold. Of course gold is a very valuable material and there is no doubt in it. But if a raw iron is coated with gold paint, it will looks similar to original gold when you compare these materials by your own vision. On the contrary, a dull thing can possess immense value. Though we are visually normal, but we are getting fall for scams and becoming prey for money eaters. 

In this post I'm going to show you some simple steps to check if an online company is legitimate or not. Take a little more time to read.

Also read: Improve Your Facebook Security & Protect Yourself from Hackers

Check Company's Official Website

Assume that you have heard about a company and want to know more about them. Visit the company's official website and check whether what you have heard is matching or not. Kindly check for the website's genuine contact details such as telephone numbers and address. 

Check the Company's Legal Documents

Each and every company must have legal documents. It is good to congnize the terms and conditions, acknowledgment certificates and other legal documents about the company. Also check for Privacy policy, Disclaimer, About us, Disclosures pages on their official website. Browse their website thoroughly and read the content for professionalism. 

Payment Method

Study on how they accept the payments. Paypal payment method is considered as safe. If the company's mode of payment is looks shady or blurred, please make sure to leave such website without having participation. 

Google the Company's Name

Type the company's name on Google and search for it. Look for their links present in search engine and read out user reviews, comments about the company. Raise questions about the company you are looking for in Yahoo Answers. There, you could get possible legitimate information within a day. 

Note: Not all the reviews present on Internet about a company is perfect and trusted. 

Check Company's Registration details

It is worth to check a company's registration details such as who registered the website, e-mail id, address, contact details, geographical location and expiration date. You need to surf who.is and enter company's official website's URL. Thereby, you can get additional info in which it would be very helpful for further research. Suppose if you have found the domain is quite new and is about to expire soon anytime, alert yourself and put a full stop otherwise you may end up being the victim of a scam.

Search the Company on Authority Websites

All countries are having authority websites that are runs by government which keeps the database of every company's registration details and also other important information about business firm. Here are some authority websites which I know:

• For US/Canada - Better Business Bureau
• For India - Ministry of Corporate Affairs
• For UK - Company House
• For Australia - ABN Lookup

If the country of yours is not listed above, you need to Google it and search for authority websites based on your location.  

Visit the Company Directly

Now turn yourself as an advocate and visit the company directly if possible to check for legal files. Enquire workers of the company to know further information but don't blindly believe them. If the company is located nearby your region, it is better to reach them and know whether the company is really exist or not.

How You Can Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

Identity theft via utility technologies is a type of scam which is usually perpetuated against those who submit entire personal information on social networking sites. Scammers will take advantage of it. Therefore, they can easily approach and brain wash you solely. Best example for identity theft is credit card scams. 

Until you trust the company fully, never post the following:

• Pin numbers,
• Passwords,
• Account numbers,
• Social Security Numbers or SIN numbers.

Final Words

There is no option as get rich quick schemes unless are you lucky enough to won in lottery.

There's another proverb which says Look Before You Leap. I can say that Look, Think and Investigate Before You Leap.