Fake Web sites: Don't buy into the lie
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A bid -- for your money
Online auctions like eBay and its affiliate, PayPal, provide plenty of opportunities for spoofing. Like other versions of this scam, the criminals hook you with e-mails. By clicking on the links in the e-mails, you go to the criminals' Web sites, where they entice you to divulge your user name and password. EBay's true site offers a spoof tutorial to help educate customers about fraud. 

Sometimes these e-mails come in the form of fake messages from eBay buyers trying to send you money. "I want to pay for the plasma television I bought, but don't have the right address to send you the money," reads one message. Another pretends to be from a seller attempting to send an expensive item for which, they allege, you've already paid. If you respond, they're going to hit you up for more money -- usually for shipping and handling the nonexistent item.

Like most scams, they play on individual greed and the idea of getting something for nothing. And yes, it is too good to be true.

Official -- and unofficial -- monkey business
Fake Web sites come in all types, from retail providers to official government agencies. Even the Internal Revenue Service has shut down its share of phony look-alike Internet sites.

In response to the onslaught, Internet security firms have emerged to help consumers detect fraud. For example, Comodo allows you to download for free the Comodo VerificationEngine that can help you check the veracity of a Web site. Before downloading such programs, be sure to check on the legitimacy of an organization, lest the tools be used to thwart you.

The North American Securities Administrators Association offers an example of a bogus regulatory agency.

The greatest majority of fake sites falls within the realm of retail businesses. A slight change in the Web address can whoosh an innocent bent on purchasing a book from a legitimate bookseller to a Web site with a similar name.

For example, replacing ".com" or ".org" with ".net" can bring up a site that on the surface looks legitimate -- but isn't. Changing the Internet address of one international airline to a ".net" turns up a site with photos that make it appear legitimate. But on one side of the site -- registered to an individual in Korea -- is a menu that includes everything from home loans to credit cards.