As we have reported on numerous occasions fancy websites often lull fraud victims into a false sense of security, an analogy maybe that of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. At TCA we have tools that we use to investigate websites and can be confident in the results we achieve, but what about those who are not tech savvy? Of interest, the Daily Mail published an article announcing a new website created by Get Safe Online and CIFAS: Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System, the article may be viewed here.
Naturally TCA are all for any methods, either manual or digital put in place to protect against fraud, but does this latest effort work? We put it to a simple test and will share the results below.
Bad Guy – The test
Recently we published an article about a bogus fraudulent firm of Spanish lawyers named Litigamos Abogados so we thought this would be a good place to start. Below we will give a snapshot of the enquiry and result:
So the first simple result shows the system has returned a “dubious” website that alone should be the signal to stop any further involvement. Much like our sister website Timeshare Trust, this service has introduced a “trustometer”, the results of which we share below:
So our Spanish scammers only achieve a trustometer score of 37. Out of interest, our own Timeshare Trust rating is 0%.
Good Guy – The test
In order to balance the results we decided to test one of the companies on our white list being European Consumer Claims (ECC), this is what we found:
Moving on to the trustometer:
100% trust score, now you can’t really get better than that.
If you are at all in doubt you now have a tool that can assist with your due diligence. This by no means should be the only investigation you carry out as it certainly is not the panacea to all ills but it’s without doubt a step in the right direction.
Above we have only offered a snap shot of the overall results from the site which produces a much more in depth report but mostly techie stuff.
To access the website, we have placed a link here.
Comment
Whilst most timeshare fraud cannot be classed as cyber crime, scam websites help to create the illusion of a trustworthy company but as we have sought to point out flashy expensive websites can often hide the sinister side of the real purpose.
TCA are still here to carry out full research if you suspect a company to be bogus. Any online system, whilst welcome, is run by algorithms, which is good, but there is no substitute for the human touch. As we often say, if in doubt give us a shout.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk