Businesses can ensure they appear legitimate online with these six tips

Businesses can ensure they appear legitimate online with these six tips

Internet scams are very common these days, with more than £500 million stolen from customers of British banks during the first half of 2018 alone. This is according to industry group UK Finance, which also claimed that authorised push payment scams — cases of fraud where people are tricked into placing money into another account — accounted for £145 million of this total.

While members of the public should obviously be concerned about internet scams, so too should businesses as they are usually also targeted through them. In this guide, Infinium, which are holiday park WiFi providers that also offer IT security services, looks at six things that companies should be doing to ensure customers know that a firm’s online interactions are always legitimate…

Grant customers the opportunity to check your ISO certification

Aim to display the logo of the certification body that issued an ISO certification to your business somewhere on your website. This is because customers can then search for the certification body in question and get in touch with them to verify that your company is in fact legitimate.

Have your landline phone number and registered address featured across your website

Your company’s phone number and registered address should be two things that customers can find easily on your website if you’re a legitimate online business. There are some additional considerations to bear in mind here too.

There may be times when potential customers will call round to the registered address of your company, as they’ll be making sure everything is genuine ahead of buying a product or investing in a service. Therefore, ensure there’s either a sign or some indication of your business’ presence within the office or building where the address is linked to.

A landline number is recommended when selecting a phone number for your business as well. While a mobile number doesn’t mean that a firm isn’t legitimate, its presence will instantly see potential customers put their guard up. Of course, people may call the number to check that it’s genuine as well, so make sure it’s always a member of staff who answers the call and that they introduce themselves with a professional greeting and mention of the company name.

Implement SSL security protocol on your site…

SSL means Secure Sockets Layer in this context. It’s a security protocol whereby the channel of information between a customer and a business’ website is encrypted. Therefore, credit card details will be ‘scrambled’ and hackers will not have the opportunity to intercept the information that consumers ae sending to retailers.

Establishing if a website has SSL security protocol implemented doesn’t take very long at all. This is because your site’s URL will alter from ‘http://’ to the more secure ‘https://’. What’s more, on the left-hand side of the address bar will either be an unbroken key or a closed padlock — if these icons look to be broken or open, it could well indicate that there’s something wrong with the site’s SSL.

…and a trusted payment gateway too, if necessary

Chosen not to have your own payment service in place across your website? Then make sure you opt for a trusted payment gateway which can conduct online transactions on your behalf. PayPal and WorldPay are two firms which instantly come to mind, with both helping to make consumers feel secure.

Let all customers view your privacy statement

Legal privacy statements are available for everybody to read on the websites of just about every major retailer currently in operation. It’s important that your legal privacy statement is filled with details about how you work to protect the information that consumers give about themselves — such as their personal details and credit card information.

When dealing with financial services & products, place your business on the FCA register

Details of all financial companies registered and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) can be found on the comprehensive FCA register. It stands to reason then that your company should be on this register if you deal in financial services or products, as consumers can then easily check your firm’s credentials by just searching for your brand’s name and/or the postcode associated with your business.

 

Sources:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45634362

https://www.money.co.uk/guides/how-can-i-check-if-a-company-is-legitimate.htm

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/moneymatters/how-to-find-out-if-an-online-retailer-is-genuine/ar-BBer5Qs

https://www.british-assessment.co.uk/guides/how-to-check-if-a-company-is-legitimate/

Leave a Reply

Tweet
Share
Share