Call Today!

877-460-8472

How to Tell if an Online Business is Legit

Don't make the mistake of working with a scam merchant account company! If you want to start a tobacco merchant account or pharmacy merchant account, you will need to find a reliable high risk merchant account to process your credit card payments. When searching for a merchant, websites may seem professional and beautifully designed, but it may be a front for a fraudulent company who will do little more than steal from you and your customers! Many scams will change the fees that they post on their websites and you don't find out until you get the bill. Many fraud sites also can resemble legitimate merchant account providers, which is an added challenge. With 177 million registered domains on the Internet, it's hard to sort through all of them by yourself.

How can you tell which ones are legitimate credit card merchants?

1. Always do some research about the company in question before even considering giving them any personal or business information, including credit card information.
2. Check the site for a privacy policy. Usually this will be found in the Help section or Customer Assistance.
3. Call the phone number that is listed on the site. Ask for additional information about the company and referrals. If there isn't business information like e-mail addresses, names, or phone numbers, proceed with caution.
4. If the site doesn't have a privacy policy or phone number, do a few Internet searches with the company name. Scam.com is a forum for users to vent their complaints. This site is broken into sections of different types of scams. Use search engines. See if anything suspicious comes up about the company name, the listed contact person. Check Better Business Bureau Online bbbonline.org. Companies that are legitimate can post the Better Business Bureau seal on their website.
5. Beware of high pressure deals that demand quick action. Don't be rushed into making a decision. There are plenty of companies that provide you with the time you need to make good business choices. Read contracts carefully for additional fees that they may try to sneak by you.
6. Companies that request payment via private courier may be avoiding postal fraud laws. Never send money through an untrusted source.

Sometimes, you may think you are on a legitimate site that you've used before. Always check the URL to see if you have typed the web address correctly. Some fraud sites deliberately create their addresses similar to those of trusted businesses, gaining your attention from human error. Many times, these sites look exactly like the original, so it can easily go undetected.

Another technique that scammers use is sending e-mails that resemble a real company's design and color scheme. The familiarity of the company's branding create a false sense of security, which may cause customers to provide them with sensitive information. For example, Bank of America frauds send e-mails requesting account number verification or links to sign-in to your online banking account. These e-mails link to a similar site, then simply record the information that you enter in, including passwords, user names and account numbers. No legitimate site will ask you to verify sensitive information through e-mail, so beware of this type of scam.