Scanning for Scammers Before You Buy In

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But we can get even more. If we're concerned that the company seems to have popped up rather quickly, we can check to see if they'd been online previously but had accidentally let their domain registration expire. We can go to Archive.org, and use the Wayback Machine. We enter the company URL again and click on "take me back." If the company has a history online, you'll get an archived snapshot of its site going as far back as 1996. If there's no recorded history for the site, there's a good chance the site was set up as a front for scammers.

How do these fraudulent outfits put up sites that look so good and include legitimate-sounding business language and photos and so forth?

Often when scammers set up sites in a hurry, they manage to incorporate professional-looking copy by plagiarizing text from other sites. One of our favorite tools for finding out whether the text, or any portion thereof, on any given Web page is duplicated from another site is Copyscape. Since scammers don't typically have a business vision or mission that they care to share, those pages are very likely pirated from another unknowing company. So, we enter the URL from the company's "vision" page into the Copyscape search.

What it turns up are links to Web sites that have duplicate text. You can usually figure out where the copy came from and you can see all the other sites where the scammers are using identical text or very close variations on it. Many times, some of those other sites will have been disabled, which is not unusual as scammers often close up one site when people start to catch on, only to open another identical site immediately.

So you find out that they've stolen legitimate companies' mission statements, FAQs, and client testimonials?

Yes. They often pirate text from several different firms, and even steal the pictures they use on their site as well. You can tell that by doing a right mouse-click on the picture and you'll get some underlying text that pops up to give you the properties of the picture. Then you can see if the names that come up match the names listed on the scam site. If the scammers are lying about who's behind their company, it becomes apparent quickly.

That's amazing. And I'd imagine entrepreneurs could use these same tools to find out if any scammers are pirating text or pictures from their Web sites.

Exactly. Copy the URLs of some of your text pages into Copyscape and check out if anyone else is using your writing to bolster their fraudulent efforts. Entrepreneurs can also use forums like Scam.com, where people who are investigating opportunities interact. You can search on a company name there and get some background about it, or you can post an inquiry about a business opportunity you're exploring, and chances are someone will respond if they have had a bad experience with that company. Other message boards we visit are workplacelikehome.com, ripoffreport.com, and wahm.com.

Do you find these kinds of grassroots communities are as effective as some of the traditional government agencies that are supposed to protect the public against scams?

Actually, I think the people who are down in the trenches do a better job in terms of being informative about these frauds. Of course, any time you're looking at these boards, you have to weigh and measure what people say. Sometimes there are great business opportunities that aren't executed properly. Not everybody is cut out to be an entrepreneur.

If you get 10 responses, throw out the high one and the low one and go with what the majority has to say. If it's an even mix, err on the side of caution and don't risk your money on it.

Karen E. Klein is a business journalist who covers small-business issues for several national publications. She writes her Smart Answers column twice a week.