Have you ever been searching for a tool on Google and ended up on a scam site or a fraudulent sales page?

Maybe you were searching for a loan, looking for a job, or just trying to find out the best price on Photoshop. Whatever it was, you came across an internet marketing scammer who preyed upon your quest for information and tricked you into purchasing a product that you didn’t need or want.

The scammers use methods that are old and proven to work. They’ll get you to interact with them on social media by promising to connect you with potential customers or partners (SCAM ALERT: They’ll ask you to pay for this service). They’ll try to trick you with false offers of free shipping or other cheap tricks to make you respond (LIE: If you don’t fill out their form or reply to one of their emails, they’ll keep on trying).

But the worst part is that, even after you got tricked, scammers will continue to try and take advantage of you whenever you search for a product or service. So even if you did want to purchase something from that site, you’d have to keep on checking their emails and social media accounts to make sure that they aren’t trying to scam you again.

Since you’re now more aware of these scams, you have to be proactive about protecting yourself. The key is to develop an anti-scam filter for your brain. When you stumble upon one of these scams, it’s imperative to block them out of your head right away. You do this by continually reminding yourself of four key points:

1. It’s a scam

You’ll see a lot of these scam sites online. They often display a lot of convincing, but misleading, advertising.

On top of that, the way the scam sites are designed will trick your mind into thinking that the company is legitimate. But they’re not. They’re trying to scam you and steal your money. Don’t give them the satisfaction of having tricked you. Instead, block them out of your head and think of something else.

2. Look at the website’s front page

Since you’ve just arrived at the scam site, your first instinct might be to check out the flashy website design and see what all the buzz is about. However, if you visit their website and look at the front page, you’ll notice a few things.

First, the website might not even be affiliated with the company that the scammers are trying to trick you into thinking is real. So it’s important to look at the front page and see who the author of the website is. If it doesn’t match up with what the scammer is saying, it’s probably a scam site.

The second thing you’ll want to do is look at the website’s menu. On a scam site, the menu will usually have fake products that don’t exist. The products that do exist on the site aren’t related to one another in any way, which makes them completely misleading. So if the menu on a website seems fishy, it’s probably a scam site.

3. Check out the website’s back page

Even if the website looks relatively legit and is authored by a reputable company, there’s a chance that it’s a scam. One of the primary ways that scam artists operate is by adding more and more fake products to their websites as time goes on. So if you visit a website and notice that there are a lot of products on the menu, that doesn’t mean that they’re all real. More often than not, the more products that a website offers, the more likely it is that that site is a scam.

4. Check out the website’s social media accounts

If you see a company that you’re wanting to purchase from, but they don’t have any social media accounts where they’re posting about the product, it’s a red flag. It means that they don’t want others to know that they’re affiliated with a specific brand or product. That’s a big no-no for any company, but especially if you’re wanting to do business with someone local.

5. Contact the company directly

If you can’t figure out whether or not a website is a scam by using the information available on their front page, then you can contact the company directly.

You’ll see a lot of these scams online. They often display a lot of convincing, but misleading, advertising.

When you contact the company directly through their website or social media accounts, you can find out whether or not they’re legitimate. You can also find out how to contact them if they are legitimate. Many companies will be glad to answer all of your questions and give you more information about their products. No matter what, it’s never good to trust someone you don’t know or have never met in person.

Hopefully, this list of tips on how to tell if a website is legit will help you figure out whether or not a site is trying to scam you. Always be on the lookout for suspicious emails or phone calls that ask you to click a link or fill out a form. If you find that you can’t figure out whether or not a website is trying to scam you, then it’s probably a good idea to avoid dealing with them altogether. Instead, contact the company directly through their website or social media accounts.