Protect Yourself From Online Fraud

Submitted by teampower on September 18, 2006 - 10:41am.

Being in the online medication industry for over two years has taught us much, but one of the most important lessons we have learnt is how to tell a scam pharmacy from a real pharmacy.
http://www.google.com If you are visiting a site that looks something like: http://amiaminifg.net/HlvCGoiogpHkzl8FaT9sOfk6G/FBouNxwSAAYDDgclCxUeTAUD.htm Then click the back button right away. These domain names are literally there one day and gone the next. Does the above URL look like it belongs to a pharmacy that is legitimate? Another thing to watch out for are website addresses that are not using domain names at all, but rather IP addresses such as the example below: http://204.37.84.153/viagra.htmhttp://www.website.com However, if they are an affiliate, you are likely to see other parameters in the URL that will allow the commission to be tracked. An affiliate URL could be any of the following: http://www.website.com/?affiliateID=12345 http://www.website.com/product/service.html?partner=12345 http://partner123.website.com/ Also be careful because sometimes an affiliate URL will look like the above but then quickly redirect you to the main site (without the affiliate IDs) in order to try and fool the customer. To determine if this is the case, right click on the link you want to visit, copy the link, the paste it into your address bar. This is the only way to determine EXACTLY where you are going and what incentives are awaiting the referring website if you place your order there. How many products? This is not the be all end all of determining if a website is a scam, but most of the scam websites we come across all seem to share the characteristic of having less than 50 or 100 products in their inventory. Make note of this when you arrive at the website, and make note of the fact that it is a lot easier (and quicker) to throw up a 50 product site than a 5000 product site. Is there a visible Internet presence? How long has the site you are visiting been around? Is anyone (other than obvious affiliates) talking good/bad about it? Here is a good way to see: Go to http://www.google.com and type: cache:www.website.com site:www.website.com link:www.website.com (where www.website.comhttp://www.DrugDelivery.ca, we wish you a happy (and safe!) shopping trip. DrugDelivery.ca is an online pharmacy escrow service which has been an industry leader in online medications since 2003. Our service protects both the customer and the pharmacy from the plethora of fraud on the Internet.