Expert: Carolyn Meinel - 12/6/2009

Question
Hello,
     If I use a "utility" such as "Sam Spade" to trace an internet websites business, and I keep getting "fraudulent or bogus" in my trace route, does this mean that the website is trying to hide something? And perhaps a company I don't want to do business with? Any help would be appreciated. Regards-Skyler

Answer
You are correct. Sam Spade looks up Internet addresses at a database run by http://www.abuse.net/ to determine whether they are run by spammers or other criminals.

However, criminals are constantly breaking into computers and unknown to the owners, running websites and email servers that serve their nefarious schemes. So  you can't entirely rely upon Sam Spade or any other such tool to protect yourself.

There are two ways that I protect myself when shopping online. If I get a fancy catalog in the mail, I figure this is a legitimate business, because criminals don't spend the money needed to to create and send out catalogs.  The other way is to read about a business on the Internet. Even then I take my time. I waited for years before signing up with Paypal, and only did so because they required it for me to shop on Ebay. I waited a long time to try Ebay, too! But then I'm the cautious type.