Google has few search options, which can help you to find something out about your new business partner. In any way you should start with the procedure described at How to identify scammer by using free tools from the Internet This will save a lot of time for you. The search here takes a lot more time.
Search with an exact phrase:
Put quotation marks around words "[any word]" to search for an exact phrase in an exact order. Keep in mind that searching with quotes might exclude relevant results. For instance, a search for "Alexander Bell" will miss pages that refer to Alexander G. Bell.
I use this function for searching names and domain names of my business partner. Especially by searching a specific domain name is it very helpful. Scammer sites are getting very fast documented by others and you are able to review their comments.
Search within a specific site:
Precede your query with site: if you know you want your answer from within a specific site or type of site (.org, .edu). For example: site:edu or site:nytimes.com.
As you can search inside a specific site, you can exclude specific sites, by excluding them. To exclude them from the result set you need only put a dash in front. Example -site:linkedin.com for not listing all the contacts from LinkedIn
Find related pages:
Use the related: operator to find pages that have similar content by typing related: followed by the website address. For instance, if you find a website you like, try using related:[insert URL] to locate similar websites.
In any case, even if you did not find out something bad about your new business partner, you should take the lowest risk as possible for making business. A nostrum for not getting scammed is not available.
All this “genuine campaigns”, where the offer gets repeated here everyday (spam) are nothing else then spam. I have made the experience that the offers are made only for collecting email addresses. Since I have started for asking for more information, the spam filter from google and my own mail servers have more than the double of work. For me it looks like that the email data are getting sold.
What have all this spams together? All of them are hiding their own identity on the internet. They are not using their own picture, their domain is newly registered (less than 2 years), they are using to hide their domain by using anonymization services and they are hiding their website location by proxy/frame services.
Only criminals need to hide themselves. Real companies are proud of their products and brand. They are not hiding themselves because their name is their reputation.
The members of the group “Customer Service Champions” have already kicked my posts about scamming. The champions are thinking that they know already everything and have called me to be a spammer.
A spammer promotes only his own services or services where he can earn. I’m only a user of the posted links and have not more than work for forwarding my knowledge. The services are running somewhere at the internet. I even don’t promote my own services while I’m fighting against scammers. Maybe the group “Customer Service Champions” is the group of the scammers and for this they have kicked the posts.
How to identify scammer by using free tools
Since I’m bashing against spammers and scammers, I get a lot of messages, which are sounding similar. Today morning I got this message from India:
I am in process of setting up call center and has been discussing various business opportunities with the brokers. Everyone asked for upfront consultancy fees and their responsibility ends with the SLA signed up with the business client. I found it too much risky and when I questioned this process and suggested alternate business modes like you mentioned monthly royalty fees or consultancy fees after one month billing cycle or even asked for bank guarantee but none of these brokers has shown interest and were not ready to proceed further.
At the end I am happy that i didn't proceed as one of known contacts has wasted their time and money both with the broker.”
Brokers, I’m not your enemy, but if you are continuing like you have done it until now, you are destroying your own business! You need to do something against the black sheep’s (spammer, scammer and other criminals) in your branch. Even your best and largest customer can run into bankruptcy. How you will survive if you are getting rejected from other centers, because you are scamming the same way like others?
Call centers, I cannot help you with campaigns, because I’m not a campaign broker. A few days ago one contact from Spain has asked me, if I know a Spanish speaking call center. I have forwarded the contact data of the only Spanish speaking call center, which I have known at this time, which is based in Guatemala for free. I even don’t know if they are making or have made a contract. I can only recommend you to speak and help each other. Together you’ll be strong and this kind of brokers, which like to draw only money from you. It is better to earn nothing than to pay for nothing. As soon they are not able to sell campaigns on the way they have done it until now, the real brokers will accept your rules in making business.
Since I have started my private war against the scammer, I have noticed that a lot of people at LinkedIn have changed their profile picture. Some of them have put their real picture at their profile and some have removed their pictures. This one, which have removed their pictures are trying to hide something from you.
Every scammer likes to hide his identity, because he likes to disappear as soon as he received your money. For this you should ignore offers, which are coming with the following fails:
- Profiles without pictures
- Profiles with pictures from celebrities, photo models, animals, flowers, arts, company logos, etc. Use Google image search for finding out such pictures.
- Domains, where the domain owner is hidden by an anonymization service
- Domains, where the domain owner is named like “Domain Admin”, “Domain Owner”, etc.
- Domains, where the email address of the domain owner is an address of a freemail service. They have needed a real email address too for registering their freemail address.
- People, which like to communicate with you only by using a service from a freemailer. It is ok, if the first contact is done by a freemailer, but afterwards they should use their own email address.
- People, which have no other contact possibility then skype. They are only wasting your high valued time
- Offers, which sounding too good to be true (like get thousands of dollars for doing nearly nothing). Nobody can give you money as a gift
- Offers, which suggest you that you need to be fast to get it. Take a look how many times such offers are getting repeated. You have all time of the world to prove the offer and for making a background check
- Offers, where you have to pay any fees like upfront, consulting, etc. for getting it. Even they are a fake if they are promising it that you get it back after a few months.
How to identify scammer by using free tools
You’ll get scammed if you have to trust to someone met over the internet. Make in each case a background check.
Start with the picture search. It is easy if you are using Google Chrome for browsing. Put your mouse pointer over their profile picture and by doing a right click chose “Search Google for this image”. Don’t let yourself get fooled from the result set, because you will also get the same picture with the name from their followers on the social networks and even from similar pictures (googles computers are thinking that the picture is looking similar).
If you get a domain name from them by email or as a link, then you can check their domain by using www.scamadviser.com. Just open www.scamadviser.com and enter their domain name or website name and press enter. You get a list of risks in the resultset.
Learn how to get the email headers from your mail client and to read email headers. There you get the route which the email has taken. You can for analyzing the use the free online tool at http://mxtoolbox.com/EmailHeaders. Just copy the content of the email header into the form there. You get a route list, which the email has taken on it way with the ip addresses.
You can check the location of this ip addresses by using the free site http://www.iplocation.net/. The location shall match the promoted location and country of your communication partner. Be aware, that the location can be the next larger city next to the address of your communication partner.
If you have did not find something negative about your new business partner, then you should continue with Using Google for making a background check of your business partner