Officially visit websites & download apps, not fake ones.

[pakhitheboss]

I actually do google for official website when I want to get the site or install some software, but I don't just click on the first google result, instead I look at mentions of it from multiple sources and check that they all lead to the same address.

It's actually easier to verify the more popular sites, because they will be mentioned by other sites a lot, so despite all the phishing, you'll easily find the real one, but with some less obscure things, it's hard to find even the references to them. For example, it's hard to find a legitimate cracks for software by googling and nearly all results will have malware, and you'd need to get to some specialized forums to find links to relatively safe cracks.

It seems so wrong that a phishing/ malicious site could actually rank better than the original if that ever happens.

Usually those "top" results are from Google Ads. I fell for it once and shit, it was scary af.

Ranking such websites only require Black Hat SEO, they will rank fast but as soon as Google discovers them they will get banned. Still, if they rank on the first page for just 48 hours their job will be complete as many fools will open their links without even noticing the URL address.

Therefore always check the URL of a website before downloading or uploading anything.

[Findingnemo]

A simple pro tip to visit official crypto related sites from one place is coinmarketcap.Yes it is.

You can find almost every crypto related websites with official links so you can trust them while visiting and also it is good to double check the link once you entered into the official site.

[OcTradism]

A simple pro tip to visit official crypto related sites from one place is coinmarketcap.Yes it is.

You can find almost every crypto related websites with official links so you can trust them while visiting and also it is good to double check the link once you entered into the official site.

coinmarketcap.com is a legit site but it is not wisely to rely on a single site to find what you need. Start with coinmarketcap.com and double or trible check with results you get from other search engines.

A legit site can be compromised, we simply don't know when and how it will be compromised. We can only take care of ourselves and our capital.

[UserU]

coinmarketcap.com is a legit site but it is not wisely to rely on a single site to find what you need. Start with coinmarketcap.com and double or trible check with results you get from other search engines.

A legit site can be compromised, we simply don't know when and how it will be compromised. We can only take care of ourselves and our capital.

Fear not my young padawan. After Binance acquired CMC, we have this guy to assure everything is a-ok.


Jokes aside, it's always better to have more reference

[Findingnemo]

A simple pro tip to visit official crypto related sites from one place is coinmarketcap.Yes it is.

You can find almost every crypto related websites with official links so you can trust them while visiting and also it is good to double check the link once you entered into the official site.

coinmarketcap.com is a legit site but it is not wisely to rely on a single site to find what you need. Start with coinmarketcap.com and double or trible check with results you get from other search engines.

A legit site can be compromised, we simply don't know when and how it will be compromised. We can only take care of ourselves and our capital.

I never said we should rely on coinmarket for every kind of search but we can use this website to cross check with our results on google or any other search engines.But whenever I want to visit an exchange I use coinmarketcap to save time and I will always check the URL after entered into the exchange.

[Lordhermes]

Additionally to the ones you said, in order to avoid downloading phishing apps from stores, cryptog users be practice in checking in on social media page. This is another way of winning bad hackers, social media page carries the correct and legit URL of website of projects. Absolutely, newbies falls into this victim at all times so this information would probably help allot.

[Rengga Jati]

..snip..

That's absolutely true, only searching directly the application on the play store/AppStore is not recommended enough. There are several fake applications that may be very difficult to differentiate. Moreover for the newbies who don't know exactly about the right application.
Let's say how MEW also seems to be imitated by the fake MEW App. It has been from along time ago and the scammer always renewed it until nobody realizes it. And of course, there may be several other similar cases that point out the fake applications that we may not aware of it.

Actually, this article is good enough for us to spot out the fake Andoird application. AN dit can be sued for any kind of application. Let's have a good read here:
https://www.howtogeek.com/341905/how-to-spot-and-avoid-fake-android-apps-in-the-play-store/

Watch out "scammer's everywhere"

There are a lot more ways to validate a website's legitimacy, but this is all I can think of for now.

Yeah, there may not be only using one point to download the official application.
1. Visit the official website, ensure that the site is the official site. we can look at the URL link or its domain. Scammers may also create a certain similar website but different URL characters, domain name characters, and also the TLD.
2. Join the official telegram group pr other social media. Be careful, many scammers also create a fake telegram group. We must confirm it with the information on the official website.

then, after confirming the right place, we and download the application from the link provided on the website or official telegram group.

This is actually what mostly I did every time going to download certain applications. It is better than being confused on the play store to find the right application.

[Asuspawer09]

Don't:
- Google to find official websites because you can find phishing sites.
- Don't search on Google Play or iOS store to find applications.
- Don't click on links that are sent by anyone to install any application.

Google has one of the most notoriously slipshod app approval process, this make it app store most dangerous and anyone trending on it should trend with cautions. I attributed many mistakes to our inability to distinguish between fake and original. Here are some tips:

Check app developer: The name of the developer should be correct in spelling.

Ensure to disable app installation from unknown sources.

Check app permissions: you must be smart with this,  dubious permissions are on app store.

Always read reviews of others.

I guess we always end up googling a lot of things on the internet and we cannot really avoid it.

I think we just need to be aware of the website we are going to visit most of the time when you google a website the first one that is going to appear is the legit one and you can easily tell most of the time when something is wrong about it. But for sure you are going to have doubts if you don't know or its your first time visiting the website.

[libert19]

I search Google (of course with ads disabled, just disabling ads can save you from many phishing sites), Going from official website and you can find official websites from their tg/discords.. see where I'm going? It's a rabbit hole and everything can be compromised.

[Lordhermes]

Anyone can notice a fake site as long as they pay much attention, especially when trying to visit a new one. Also, search engines aren't fake, and most results would probably result in the official site first before the phishing sites. Additionally, if you were to look up using search engines, you may chance upon a phishing site and an official site, with a bit of a good eye, you can notice the difference and see which is fake or not. Most phishing sites just adjust the name to MAKE it look like the original.

Not every newbies are aware of this, 80% of newbies still fall victim of this as when Google Search something, phishing sites also appear, some newbies must understand that good URL starts wiht "https" but the main solution is what op has said, going through official website and click on app you wish to download and will redirect to playstore.

[DdmrDdmr]

<…> newbies must understand that good URL starts wiht "https" <…>

Not any more … The "s" part will ensure that the traffic between you and the site you connect to is encrypted (meaning that a sniffer should not be able to make heads or tails from it), but it does in no way mean that the site you are connecting to is safe:

PhishLabs, the data source behind the link in the OP,  has an update report, and now places the mark at 68% for phishing sites using SSL (see https://info.phishlabs.com/blog/apwg-two-thirds-phishing-sites-ssl-https). Although their data for some Quarters decreases in percentage, it’s fair to assume that SSL certificates is a non-trustworthy indicator on its own, and that the assumption needs to clearly be demystified.

[o_e_l_e_o]

from their tg/discords

Telegram and Discord are a scammer's paradise. It is trivially easy to impersonate someone else, including a service or an admin or mod from that service, and direct people to fake websites, fake apps, fake bitcoin addresses, and so on. I definitely wouldn't be using either to try to find a genuine URL.

some newbies must understand that good URL starts wiht "https"

If you are manually checking whether or not the site you are connected to is using https or http, then you are doing it wrong. You should install HTTPS Everywhere, open its settings, and check the box "Encrypt All Sites Eligible", which will automatically block any unencrypted traffic and requests. Relying on yourself manually checking that every page you visit is using https will fail almost immediately.

However, this is one of the bare minimum things you should be doing to secure your browsing activities. As DdmrDdmr has pointed out above, this only protects against man-in-the-middle attacks and says nothing about the legitimacy or otherwise of the website you are connecting to.

[Mor254]

Fake apps have become part of fraud. When searching in the store or Google, we will find many similar applications that belong to one name, some of them modified or unofficial, and hackers can access our data, so it is better to work with your advice and enter the official sites first and see if there is an official application for the site and download it.

[tvplus006]

I reported several fake applications recently, and as I saw many people installed then sadly.
People need to open eyes and make triple check if they are on official website.
Better to have official websites bookmarked in your browser than to search on Google.

This is the right decision to download the app from the official website. But in this case, you need to be sure that you are really not on a phishing site, but on an official website. And if you don't have this site in your bookmarks, then it will be really difficult for you to determine what you will download.

[Erumo]

What OP say is not always work. For example there is a topic "Opps, Google did it again" - where first google link lead to fake ledger app, that asked for secret phrase. Of course google fixed it, but there are people who downloaded it and got tricked.

Official websites are not a panacea against scam. Check everything two or even three times before you type your personal info in it.

[Lorence.xD]

What OP say is not always work. For example there is a topic "Opps, Google did it again" - where first google link lead to fake ledger app, that asked for secret phrase. Of course google fixed it, but there are people who downloaded it and got tricked.

Official websites are not a panacea against scam. Check everything two or even three times before you type your personal info in it.

This is true, you can fake an official website and make it at the top of the search engine via search engine optimization, many scammers are paying for these so that they can be the top search but this is not that unstoppable, there are red flags for people if you do not know if that is the real website, one good example is using an extended domain name like adding a country prefix (com.au, net.ru, com.us), you can also check if the site is secure by checking the lock icon next to the website, this one is tricky because they can buy it to make it look legit, the fake websites can only fake their apperance but the website name will never be faked, each name is unique so you better pay attention to that because that is the biggest nope flag that can help you avoid this malicious sites.

[OcTradism]

What OP say is not always work. For example there is a topic "Opps, Google did it again" - where first google link lead to fake ledger app, that asked for secret phrase. Of course google fixed it, but there are people who downloaded it and got tricked.

If you go to official websites to get official links to apps on app store or Google play, you will not be trapped by fake apps like what the topic you quoted warn. You should never pay your funds on the carefulness or responsibility of Google or Apple to check and 100% prevent fake apps to be listed on their stores. They should do because it is good for their app ecosystem, and their reputation but you in your own side has to be responsible for your fund's safety and security.

Official websites are not a panacea against scam. Check everything two or even three times before you type your personal info in it.

Official websites are good places to start but sure official sites can also be compromised. It rarely happens but there is probability for compromise on official websites. If you care careful, you can verify apps if possible.

[OcTradism]

bump

[pinggoki]

Don't:
- Google to find official websites because you can find phishing sites.

I actually do google for official website when I want to get the site or install some software, but I don't just click on the first google result, instead I look at mentions of it from multiple sources and check that they all lead to the same address.

It's actually easier to verify the more popular sites, because they will be mentioned by other sites a lot, so despite all the phishing, you'll easily find the real one, but with some less obscure things, it's hard to find even the references to them. For example, it's hard to find a legitimate cracks for software by googling and nearly all results will have malware, and you'd need to get to some specialized forums to find links to relatively safe cracks.

I do also use google to search the official website and use google play to download thier apps. However, before clicking the link I do check first and for some reason I can identify which link is legitimate and what is not perhaps because I am computer literate. Back in a day my friend was almost got signed in on fake Bitcointalk forum luckily I was there and prevent him before he could do it. The lesson here is that you can do use google to find the website you were looking for but verify it first for your safety.

[terizla]

Don't:
- Google to find official websites because you can find phishing sites.

most of people first time visit website is do Google first. most of adversited website is always on top in google search, we don't know if that website is official or fakes. So we must be careful to visit website.
this isn't mean we must don't google to find official websites.