Safe Online Check Tinder
The World Wide Web provides us with an ocean ofinformation, entertainment, and communication options. However, as withanything in life, the good most certainly comes with some bad. And when itcomes to the internet, the bad can be really bad.
Tinder scammers usually prefer to bond with you online because oftentimes it is easier to trick you that way. Also it very may well may be that you are dealing with a Tinder bot ( i.e., robot) that types like a human but is really just a computer reacting to what you type. Tinder isn’t your average dating site — it’s the most diverse dating app, where adults of all backgrounds and experiences are invited to make connections, memories, and everything in between. FAQ / Safety Tips / Terms / Cookie Policy /. If you want to keep your kids and family safe online, which social apps do you usually check? Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp, right? However, there is another app that is focused on dating and should be on your list. It is Tinder, an online dating and geosocial networking application that is quite popular among kids, teens, and youngsters today. The Tinder Verification Code scam is one of the worst scams that you can fall prey to. It is possibly the most dangerous scam that anyone could easily to fall prey to, simply because of how believable it is, plus its potential to cause the biggest privacy and financial damage. How does Tinder verification text scam work? A safety move or a privacy invasion? Tinder will open its website up so that people can check the criminal records of its users. Photograph: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters.
Hackers, scammers, and other cybercriminals could belurking behind the scenes, waiting for you to make a mistake and click thewrong thing, or worse, to trick you into providing them with sensitiveinformation, such as bank account or credit card numbers, which they can thenuse to steal from you and cause you all sorts of trouble.
Anti-virus programs and other cybersecurity systems makeit considerably easier for you to stay safe online. But in the end, yourdigital security depends on you and your ability to spot a threat before itturns into something more serious and leaves you scrambling to recover fromidentity theft.
One of the skills you need to learn to make sure you staysafe online is how to tell the difference between safe and legitimate sites andthe malicious ones that can cause you real problems.
To help you do this, we've put together a complete guideof how to check if a website is safe and legitimate.
Understandingthe Threat: Online Scams in 2019
To understand why it's important to learn how to identifyand avoid bad websites, here are some stats about the threats we face when wego online:
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Step 1:Check the URL
There are many different ways you can tell if a website issafe and secure, but perhaps one of the easiest and most obvious is to inspectthe site's URL to see if it meets the standards of security we now have forlegitimate sites.
Here's a summary of the things you should be looking for:
Is it the siteyou want?
Most of us end up on websites because we click on links weeither find on other sites or that are sent to us via social media and email.This is fine, but make sure the site you're visiting is actually thesite you planned on visiting.
For this to work, you need to start before you head tothe site in question. Inspect the URL associated with the link you want tofollow. You can do this by using your mouse to hover over the hyperlinked text.The site the link will take you to should you click on it will appear on thebottom-left of your browser window. Take a look to see if the URL matches thesite the link is leading to you. If it doesn't, then this is a clear red flag.
If you feel good about the way the link looks and decideto click on it, the next step is to make sure the actual URL of the page you'velanded on is the same as the one you intended to click.
When doing this, really look carefully, even if the sitelooks exactly how you were expecting it to look. Scammers are very good atmaking sites that look exactly like the real thing but with slightly differentURLs. The untrained eye can be easily fooled. For example, www.amazon.commight be written as www.amazoon.com.If the site looks exactly as it should, then you might not see this differenceright away.
As a result, make sure you double and triple check thesite's URL before doing anything on it. This will save you from clicking onlinks for a bad site, something which can lead to real problems down the road.
HTTPS
The internet has been running on hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP) since the 1990s when Tim Berners-Lee came up with the conceptof the World Wide Web and browsers. Not much has changed since then except thatmany sites are now using HTTPS, with the 's' standing for secure.
This protocol was first used by banking and eCommercesites due to the fact they frequently take in people's bank and credit cardinformation.
Essentially, with HTTPS, the site encrypts the dataentered into it, providing an extra layer of security and making it much harderfor your personal information to fall into the wrong hands.
Nowadays, almost all sites use HTTPS, largely becauseGoogle and other search engines include it in their algorithms for determiningrankings (they want to make sure the sites they send to people are safe). As aresult, if you get sent to a site that doesn't use HTTPS, this should be amajor red flag that something is up. In fact, if it doesn't have HTTPS, youshould probably steer clear.
To see if the site has HTTPS, just look in the URL bar ofyour browser. There should either be a lock or some other icon to indicate thesite is secure, or it may even say 'secure.' Here's what it looks like onChrome:
Of course, just because a site has HTTPS doesn'tautomatically mean it is safe and legitimate. Bad sites can have this securityprotocol too, especially if they are trying to look legitimate, but this isstill a good place to start. No HTTP means stay away.
URL Checkers
Another thing you can do to make sure the URL of the siteyou're visiting is legitimate is to plug it into a URL checker. These tools canbe accessed online for free and will run a report on the URL in question to seeif there have been any issues with it before.
This can be a lifesaver if the tool turns up some results.It will tell you that people on the site have experienced identity theft, orthey have walked away with a virus, and this should obviously be enough todiscourage you from proceeding. On the contrary, if a site has been proven tobe safe and trustworthy, these tools will tell you that, too, allowing you toproceed to the URL with much more peace of mind.
Of course, the downside to these tools is that they willtell you nothing if there is no information about the site in question. Becauseof this, don't assume that no results means the site is legitimate. Instead,take it for what it is: a reminder that you won't know what's on the site untilyou get there. It may be completely fine, but browse aware of the risks andready to react should you find something suspicious when you get there.
Steps 2:Check the Content
Once you're convinced the URL is okay, it's safe toproceed to the website. However, just because the URL looks okay doesn't guaranteethe site is safe and secure. As a result, if you're unsure about the site,spend some time looking into the content to see if you can learn more aboutwhat you're getting yourself into.
Here are some things to look out for:
Written ByHumans?
Read through some of the written content on the site, suchas the About Us page and the blog. When you do this, you're looking to seewhether or not the content appears to have been generated by humans. You canusually tell based on the way it reads. Artificial intelligence is good, butyou can typically spot when a site has been relying on it too much for contentcreation.
Bogus websites will do this because they want to give theillusion of legitimacy. They want you to feel comfortable enough on the site tostart clicking around and eventually land on whatever it is the bad guys haveput there to either put malicious software on your computer or, worse, stealfrom you.
If you're not sure, take a look at the comments on thesite. If they too seem automated, this is a sign the site is not driving realengagement. It might say it has thousands and thousands of followers, but ifthose who interact with content leave generic comments in broken English thatwere clearly written by a bad computer program, then it's likely the site isnot real and should be avoided.
Ads andRedirects
If you're unsure of a site's legitimacy, a good thing tolook at is what happens on the site while you navigate around. For example,does clicking on certain parts of the site cause annoying popup ads to appear?Or does it open up new tabs or windows with garbage content? These kinds oftactics are designed to get you to click on something by accident.
For example, this is where you might get a pop-up messagesaying that your computer has been infected and you need to download an 'anti-virus software' right away.
Some of the pop-ups may even have false x's at the top ofthe window that look like the way to close the pop-up but that are in realityjust links to more pop-ups! It can be a never-ending cycle if you're notcareful.
Another thing to look out for are redirects. These occurwhen clicking on a link sends you to another page that's not the one youintended to visit. On sites run by particularly savvy cybercriminals, theseother pages might look just like the one wanted to open, so make sure todouble-check the URL before proceeding.
In general, though, you will be able to tell if a site ispotentially bad after having spent just a few minutes on it. Safe,professional, legitimate sites don't have crazy pop-up ads and out-of-controlredirects.
Step 3:Check the Reputation
After you've had a chance to check out the URL and thecontent, you should have a good idea as to whether or not the site islegitimate. But if you aren't sure, then the next thing to do is to spend sometime reading up on the site.
The first thing you should do is simply Google it. Type insomething such as 'Is ___(website)___ safe?' Or 'scams related to X website.' Anything related will do, but just make sure to type it into Google and not theURL bar, as this might send you to the real site, and if it is indeedproblematic, you'll be in real trouble.
When you do this, see if it comes up in any stories orarticles related to scams. Next, spend some time reading reviews about thesite. If the site is a full-on scam, there will probably be several otherpeople out there who have fallen victim to the site and reported it.
This is an especially smart thing to do when you're on aneCommerce site that doesn't inspire you with confidence. Read up to see whatexperiences other people have had dealing with that company. They may have hadno issues at all, which would be great news for you. But if someone did getripped off, they're sure to write about it somewhere, which will hopefully saveyou from suffering a similar fate as those before you.
You could also check the Better Business Bureau to see ifthere have been any claims filed against the company you're dealing with.
Step 4:Check for Contact Information
As sort of a last-ditch effort, look for the contactinformation on the site. It's somewhat normal for sites to not have phonenumbers or to not list their address, but they should have an email address ora contact form you can fill out.
Reach out to the site before you make a purchase or giveaway any personal information. If the site is legitimate, you should get aresponse pretty quickly after sending a message. But if the site's not safe,then the email either won't go through or it will be left unanswered. If thishappens, be thankful you tried to contact someone before doing something youcould undo.
If the site does list a phone number, give that a try aswell to see if it's real. For spammy sites that aren't safe, the number willalmost certainly not work. When there's no contact information at all, takethat as a sign that the site is not safe.
Tinder Safe Thing
How to Stay SafeWhen Browsing Online
Knowing how to spot an unsafe site before it causes youharm is an important part of staying secure while you're browsing the internet,but it's not the only thing you should be doing to stay safe from the variousthreats you can encounter online.
Here are some additional things you can do to help youstay safe online:
Safe BrowsingTools
Your browser has a variety of tools you can use to helpmake it less likely you'll accidentally end up on an unsafe site. To accessthem, you will need to go into your browser's settings menu, find 'Advanced' or 'Advanced Settings' and then find the security options.
Some things you can do include blocking ads and otherpop-ups, restrict potentially harmful Flash content, send Do Not Track requeststhat keep your browsing location hidden and secure and also limit access toyour microphone, webcam, mobile phone, etc.
If you're worried about stumbling onto a bad site, or ifyou just want to make sure your privacy is as protected as possible, make sureyour browser's security settings are set to the highest level possible.
Anti-VirusSoftware
You'll want to make sure you have some sort of anti-virussoftware on your computer to help keep you safe from what's out there.Anti-virus software is helpful because it provides another layer of protectionbetween you and the potentially harmful content on the web.
It will stop files from automatically downloading ontoyour computer without your consent, which can be extremely helpful if you endup on a site with lots of pop-up ads and redirects, and it will also make iteasier to quarantine infected files and destroy them before they wreak havoc onthe rest of your system.
Another advantage of anti-virus software is that it oftencomes with a browser extension that makes it much easier for you to determineif a site is legitimate or not. It will tell you right on the screen if it isor not, and while you can still override it and access the site if you reallywant, this is a great defense against spam websites that can do you harm.
When in Doubt,Don't Click
Lastly, to stay safe online, it's important to adopt safebrowsing habits, and there's no better way to do this than to use a 'when indoubt, don't click' approach to using the internet.
You can usually tell when something at least appearssuspicious, and when you get that feeling, listen to your instincts and runaway. It's much better to find out later that the site is okay thanks to someadditional research than to learn the hard way that it's not safe.
Taking this approach will make it easier for you to alsoavoid email scams and other attempts to get your personal information off youand use it to steal from you. As a result, if you can learn how to do it whentrying to decide which sites are safe to visit, you will be taking a big steptowards avoiding all the different things cybercriminals can do to those whoaren't well-versed in online security.
Conclusion
It might seem like a lot to do this each time you visit anew site, but it's important to follow a process to make sure the site you'reon truly is safe and legitimate. Plus, over time, a lot of this stuff willbecome second nature. You will have the tools in place and the knowledge neededto spot suspicious websites from the first moment you see them. This will makeit easier for you to avoid the threats you can find online and browse theinternet in a much more secure manner.
Users of Tinder, the massively popular location-based dating app, are being targeted with a clever scam that may make them lose over a $100 per month.
The Tinder safe dating scam
The scam is perpetrated by spam bots impersonating lovely women, initiating chats with users, then asking them to make Tinder verify their account.
“While online dating has gone mainstream, safety concerns still remain when using these applications. The spammers use this legitimate concern to convince users to verify themselves and trick them into thinking verification will lead to a date,” says Symantec’s Satnam Narang.
“After asking if the user is verified, the spam bot tries to disarm the user by saying ‘it’s a free service tinder put up, to verify the person you wanna meet isn’t a serial killer lol’.'”
Users who fall for the scheme are directed to a site that looks like it might be associated with Tinder – a copy-cat logo is displayed, and the font is the same one used by the app. (Symantec found 13 distinct “Tinder Safe Dating” scam sites so far.)
To verify the account, they are asked to fill out a form with their username, password, email address, and credit card details:
The claim that this service is “$0.00 No Charge!” is repeated prominently a couple of times, but as is usual with these scams, the devil is in the details: the fine print at the bottom tells users that they get free trial memberships to three adult services, but also that if they don’t cancel them in time, they will be billed automatically each month for the memberships.
All in all, the victims stand to lose $118.76 per month – quite a hefty sum. The scammers, of course, get a commission for each user they trick into signing up.
Aside from that, victims have also shared their Tinder username and password, as well as complete credit card details with the scammers – it’s a sure bet that this information will eventually be misused.
How to protect yourself and others
Anything that’s extremely popular – a game, an online service, a social network – will attract its fair share of scammers trying to cash in on a wide audience of possible targets.
Tinder Safe Scam
To keep yourself safe while using them you should keep yourself informed on what the services do and do not offer, various related scams, and always read the fine print.
Tinder Verify Safe Online Check
To keep other users safe, report scammy accounts.