Misleading websites making money from internet users: What you need to know

Misleading marketing companies and individuals are making money off internet users by publishing websites in attempt to make money from people that accidentally misspell web addresses, click links on search websites and charge for “free” software.

• Misspelled web addresses – Be careful when you type in a website into the address bar of your internet browser. Clever people have published websites that take advantage of misspellings or transposed letters. Some of these websites look similar to the correctly-spelled websites that people intend to type. Others are search pages that get paid for every link that is clicked on the site. Such sites may even attempt to make it your browser’s ‘Home Page’.

I came across an example of this when I recently tried to renew my driver’s license at www.dmvMv.com instead of www.dmvNv.com The bogus site brought up a search site not run by the State of Nevada Dept. of Motor Vehicles – but it looked official. The publishers of look-alike websites make money from every link that is clicked on.

• Links on reputable search sites may not always take you to a trustworthy website – When you use your favorite search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.) to help you research unfamiliar websites don’t always trust the first website you come across. A few months ago if you searched for “Firefox” (a popular free web browser alternative to Internet Explorer), on Google a top-listed link would take you to a website named freedownloadhq.com. That site will let you download and install Firefox for free, but require you to pay if you want to use it. Many people have paid this company for the Firefox browser, and were unaware that the same program is free from the publishers at www.firefox.com

• Free coupons – There are websites that let you print out manufacturer coupons for free or deeply discounted items at the supermarket. However the coupons are counterfeit. If the deal sounds too good to be true – it probably is. The publishers of these websites often make money by selling your e-mail address or selling you the coupon at a discount. For more information visit www.cents-off.com