With the number of online 'user-shared information portals,' Social Sites, Article directories and the like, it's hard to know when you're getting legitimate information.
I'm working on a list of 'legitimate' sites to post here in the near future and am learning about 'validity-checking' myself, in general areas on the internet.
As a student, I already know what higher-education institutions require as legitimate information checking online (that is, if I use an online source, I know the guidelines as to what is considered legitimate information or not). I am slightly less knowledgeable about pure business legitimacy, so I have some work to do yet before I post reliable information about 'online business' sources.
One tip I can give for ANY kind of information you're going to use online involves how to use Wikipedia.
Wikipedia is NOT a definitive, authority site, by any means. It is a 'collective' contribution by internet users all around the world who choose to add information to the Wikipedia site.
Many information pages at Wikipedia are without citations and proof of legitimacy. Very truly, SOME of the information found at Wikipedia is OPINION. Some of it is misinterpreted data, mis-informed reports about topics that, although someone tried to research, may not have been researched thoroughly enough.
I use Wikipedia very often, however, I choose to go to the Wikipedia site, using the information therein as a 'guideline' and a starting point - mostly for topics that I know absolutely nothing about. I enter the Wikipedia site with the intent to gain basic information and ultimately, follow the 'citation' links right back OUT of the Wikipedia site. If the citation links lead to an 'edu,' 'org,' 'gov' or other such site, then Wikipedia has served it's purpose for me. It is at the 'out-linked' sites that I can find better (perhaps original) information, but I may have been completely unaware of how to find 'original' information before I started reading articles over at Wikipedia.
This is not to imply that NONE of the information at Wikipedia is 'correct' or 'legitimate' or that all information there is unreliable. On the contrary. There are a TON of great, proper, well-researched and well-cited entries over at the Wikipedia site. It's just that I take particular care in checking the links that are within the articles I'm reading at the site. If almost all of the links are just internal, leading mainly back into the Wikipedia system (for definitions, related information, etc), then I don't consider this situation to be of legitimate value to me, though I will follow links and keep information in mind that I find internally at the site. I don't consider my information search to be completed at this point, however, I have usually gained some good general information by this point. Nothing I would use in a University paper, but information that allows me to be a little more familiar with the topic I started searching on - so that I can conduct a more intense search elsewhere.
I see forums posts and even pay-for-article material (Articles that you have to pay for) that use only Wikipedia as their source of authority - and this concerns me very much.
I have a friend who is a budding internet marketer. He uses Wikipedia in his promotions. He is listed as an Internet marketer and wrote his own article about himself, set up 'tagging' and keywords so that people will go to Wikipedia and see his name there - along with Historical figures, celebrities, etc. The average internet user considers Wikipedia as somewhat of an online encyclopedia, so using Wikipedia for marketing is actually a really awesome and effective tactic for marketers to use. It makes a marketer seem 'famous' and 'important' if they are in some kind of an 'encyclopedia' system! But the truth is - you can probably gain an account at Wikipedia and write an article yourself - about yourself - without too many problems. Or - you could submit an article to a fellow-member of Wikipedia and ask for editing help and if they do some research - some fact-checking on you, your information can still end up in Wikipedia, even if you're 'a slouch' at writing articles.
In short, any 'business information' topics that I research at Wikipedia MUST LEAD TO Better Business Bureau information and show a 'scam-list' clean status for me to believe that the business I am checking out has legitimacy. Otherwise, some relatively unknown 'newbie' could have written his or her own article, claiming that their business has skyrocketed in activity, is a leading, #1 business - and I wouldn't know the difference from the entries that tell me that "Coca-Cola" is a hugely successful company! (Well - there would be a LOT more links in an Coca-Cola article that would lead to other legitimate business reports, so the information on 'Coca-Cola' would not be as highly questioned).
Anyhow, I hope this helps you think carefully about the information sources you use online.
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Friday, June 1, 2007
Rules For The Internet Highway
Over 65 BILLION dollars was recorded as spent by online consumers in 2004.
It just gets easier and easier to shop, bank, invest, and otherwise feed money through internet resources.
The chances of coming into contact with Internet Fraud are extremely high and these odds raise significantly every day.
Around $2579 was recorded as 'average loss' to fraud from online activities, according to The Internet Fraud Center Watch - just for the first half of 2005! That's HALF A YEAR - 6 months only! The total average loss for 2004 (the entire YEAR) was only $895.
General merchandise purchases complaints accounted for around 30% of Internet Fraud complaints. These would have been goods never received or misrepresented products or goods. The percentage of fraud through misrepresented or never-received goods via AUCTIONS, however, was much higher, at 44%!
Though a great number of e-commerce websites are, indeed, reputable and legitimate, and have taken great and necessary safety precautions in order to protect consumers, it surely never hurts to always proceed cautiously when dealing with ANY websites.
If you must conduct online business and make purchases through or over the internet, here are some tips:
* Avoid using an ATM or debit card.
* Use only one credit card, preferably with a low credit limit, when making online purchases.
* Be wary of unsolicited offers by sellers.
Consider this: The Internet National Fraud Information Center Watch reported that email, as a method of contact by Internet scammers was up 22% in 2004. While offers by email may be perfectly legitimate, spammers like to use email tactics to side-step reputable sites that provide consumer protection for online purchases.
* Read the website’s privacy policy. Some websites may reserve the right to sell/give your information to a third party. You may inadvertently give permission to a website who will sell your information to a third party - you allow this by clicking the 'continue' or 'agree' or 'submit' button, quite often.
* Check the document you're involved with to see if the website allows an opportunity to "opt-out" of receiving special offers from third-party vendors or for permission to share your personal information.
* Check for a lock symbol in the status bar at the bottom of your Web browser window. Also - DO NOT provide your personal information if the website address doesn’t start with "https." The "https" is an indicator that lets you know that the site is using a secure server.
* Choose only verified sellers. DOUBLECHECK - to see if the vendor is a verified member of a reputable third party such as Better Business Bureau, VeriSign, or Guardian eCommerce. Third-party sites help to ensure online consumers will be protected when shopping or conducting e-commerce transactions.
* Check for a reasonable delivery date posted prior to completing your purchase. If you have never dealt with a certain vendor before on a regular basis, be wary of any Website that states the shipment will be delayed 20 or more days.
* TWENTY DAYS IS A VERY LONG TIME in the scope of internet business shipping. Delivery dates of 7-10 days are more REASONABLE and way more common.
* Keep a paper trail of all online transactions. This means BE DILIGENT. Print out a hard copy of the transaction and keep it in a file for future reference.
* Be wary of website offers that just sound too good to be true. Get Rich Quick Schemes abound with The Internet as a perfect vehicle for fraudulent activity. False advertising is commonplace online. Investigate all claims thoroughly before proceeding.
* Use only reputable e-commerce websites that list a street address and telephone number in case you need to contact them directly.
* If you do not receive what you paid for, and the vendor will not return your emails or calls, contact your state’s Department of Consumer Affairs for further assistance.
And Finally...
* DO NOT BE EMBARRASSED if you think YOU DID fall for a scheme, fraudulent claim or a 'too good to be true story' - REPORT IT REPORT IT REPORT IT!
Many scammers GET AWAY WITH what they do because people are too embarrassed to admit that they were trying to get a good deal, that they might not have double-checked every detail of a transaction - that they were simply outwitted by an internet scammer. People don't want to have to say 'It Happened To Me,' but
IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU - Internet scams can affect nearly anyone.
REPORT IT!
You may help the next person from getting scammed, too!
It just gets easier and easier to shop, bank, invest, and otherwise feed money through internet resources.
The chances of coming into contact with Internet Fraud are extremely high and these odds raise significantly every day.
Around $2579 was recorded as 'average loss' to fraud from online activities, according to The Internet Fraud Center Watch - just for the first half of 2005! That's HALF A YEAR - 6 months only! The total average loss for 2004 (the entire YEAR) was only $895.
General merchandise purchases complaints accounted for around 30% of Internet Fraud complaints. These would have been goods never received or misrepresented products or goods. The percentage of fraud through misrepresented or never-received goods via AUCTIONS, however, was much higher, at 44%!
Though a great number of e-commerce websites are, indeed, reputable and legitimate, and have taken great and necessary safety precautions in order to protect consumers, it surely never hurts to always proceed cautiously when dealing with ANY websites.
If you must conduct online business and make purchases through or over the internet, here are some tips:
* Avoid using an ATM or debit card.
* Use only one credit card, preferably with a low credit limit, when making online purchases.
* Be wary of unsolicited offers by sellers.
Consider this: The Internet National Fraud Information Center Watch reported that email, as a method of contact by Internet scammers was up 22% in 2004. While offers by email may be perfectly legitimate, spammers like to use email tactics to side-step reputable sites that provide consumer protection for online purchases.
* Read the website’s privacy policy. Some websites may reserve the right to sell/give your information to a third party. You may inadvertently give permission to a website who will sell your information to a third party - you allow this by clicking the 'continue' or 'agree' or 'submit' button, quite often.
* Check the document you're involved with to see if the website allows an opportunity to "opt-out" of receiving special offers from third-party vendors or for permission to share your personal information.
* Check for a lock symbol in the status bar at the bottom of your Web browser window. Also - DO NOT provide your personal information if the website address doesn’t start with "https." The "https" is an indicator that lets you know that the site is using a secure server.
* Choose only verified sellers. DOUBLECHECK - to see if the vendor is a verified member of a reputable third party such as Better Business Bureau, VeriSign, or Guardian eCommerce. Third-party sites help to ensure online consumers will be protected when shopping or conducting e-commerce transactions.
* Check for a reasonable delivery date posted prior to completing your purchase. If you have never dealt with a certain vendor before on a regular basis, be wary of any Website that states the shipment will be delayed 20 or more days.
* TWENTY DAYS IS A VERY LONG TIME in the scope of internet business shipping. Delivery dates of 7-10 days are more REASONABLE and way more common.
* Keep a paper trail of all online transactions. This means BE DILIGENT. Print out a hard copy of the transaction and keep it in a file for future reference.
* Be wary of website offers that just sound too good to be true. Get Rich Quick Schemes abound with The Internet as a perfect vehicle for fraudulent activity. False advertising is commonplace online. Investigate all claims thoroughly before proceeding.
* Use only reputable e-commerce websites that list a street address and telephone number in case you need to contact them directly.
* If you do not receive what you paid for, and the vendor will not return your emails or calls, contact your state’s Department of Consumer Affairs for further assistance.
And Finally...
* DO NOT BE EMBARRASSED if you think YOU DID fall for a scheme, fraudulent claim or a 'too good to be true story' - REPORT IT REPORT IT REPORT IT!
Many scammers GET AWAY WITH what they do because people are too embarrassed to admit that they were trying to get a good deal, that they might not have double-checked every detail of a transaction - that they were simply outwitted by an internet scammer. People don't want to have to say 'It Happened To Me,' but
IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU - Internet scams can affect nearly anyone.
REPORT IT!
You may help the next person from getting scammed, too!
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