ActuallyFree.info

Well look at that; you're already here! Welcome to my website! If I ever list anything on this website that I haven't tested myself, it will be marked with the label "not tested". Everything else has been tested personally. I have the philosophy that things should be described the way they are-- honestly and frankly. So that's the way I present the information found on this site. Most of the sources listed on this site are services that I'd suggest to friends and family, but if I wouldn't suggest it to friends and family then the description of the service will probably explain why I wouldn't recommend it.

RateItAll.com

"RateItAll is the fun and social way to share reviews about anything. And we mean everything: products, people, places, music, movies, celebrities, pets, poems, art, games, travel... anything that inspires you." RateItAll.com is nice because its like Yelp (below) but extends beyond just businesses. Websites can be rated too, or like it says, pretty much anything.

Check the Safety of a Website:

McAfee is a well-known antivirus software. Their site advisor is a website and software. You can either enter a website address on the home page to access their report for free or you can download the site advisor software for free. Once downloaded, the site advisor band will appear either at the top or the bottom of your internet browser and it will appear in Google search results. When you visit a website, the band will appear green, yellow, red or grey. Green means the site is safe, yellow means to take caution, and red means the site is likely harmful to your computer. The grey band means McAfee hasn't scanned that site yet, so they do not have a report. For any site, you can mouse over the band to click on a link which leads you to McAfee's full report on that site. Their database of reports also includes user reviews. Be cautious with the user reviews since anyone, including site owners, can submit comments. If you do not wish to download the software, you can still access the analysis database on the site advisor website to see their report. I found this to be a very viable alternative since the software made my computer and search results slow.

Google Safe Browsing
"Google uses automatic algorithms and user feedback to compile lists of sites that may be dangerous. The two major types of dangerous pages on our lists are phishing pages and malware pages." The link leads to a page where Firefox users can download a toolbar that is similar to the Site Advisor toolbar mentioned above. However, if you want to simply see the reports, use the following web address: "http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=google.com" but enter the website in question instead of "google.com". Go here to read the FAQ on Google safe browsing.

StopBadWare.org
This site has information to educate the public on avoiding the dangers of the internet and they have a database of thousands of websites that have either been tested or reported to have malware. Check with this database before visiting any new or questionable sites.

Website seals of trust - Website seals of trust are programs that are meant to show website visitors that the website is safe and reliable, and that the payment processor is valid when making purchases. All of these seals are provided by third parties, not the site itself. Often they post user feedback and they have strict requirements for the website to follow in order to post the seal. The seals which require a fee are more reliable. This shows that the website or company is willing to do what is necessary to prove they are trustworthy. If a seal is free, then anyone can post it on their website. However, even these seals can provide some information since the seal has to be removed if the site gets too much negative feedback. Here is an article which describes many of these seals.

• VeriSign.com
• Thawte.com
• RatePoint.com
• BBB.org/online
• TRUSTe.com
• TrustBuild.com
• Trust-Guard.com
• StartCom.org (Free and Paid seals)
• GeoTrust.com
• Comodo.com
• McAfeeSecure.com
  
• WebEntrust.com (Free Seal)
• FreeTrustSeal.com (Free Seal)
  
• PayPal Verified (Free for PayPal users, not used very often anymore)

Anti-Phising Working Group (AWPG or AntiPhishing.org)
"The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) is the global pan-industrial and law enforcement association focused on eliminating the fraud and identity theft that result from phishing,pharming and email spoofing of all types." Their sponsor solutions page also has many other resources to protect you and your computer (although they're not all free resources).

WhoIs Search - Use this search to see who owns the domain name of a website. If you find out the name of a business then you can use the "business" third party verification sites below. If they use proxy registration information, then you might want to be cautious.

AboutUs.org - This website gives general information about other websites. It includes a title, a brief description, related links, and contact information. The information about each website is quoted directly from the websites themselves.

Compete.com - View and compare the statistics for a website and the website's competitors.

View a website without visiting it - The Free Internet Activities page lists search engines that show images of the website's homepages in the search results.

Check out a Business:

The Better Business Bureau, BBB.org
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is government funded and government organized, but don't worry . . .you can still trust them (sort of). They offer reports and ratings on businesses based on an ethical code. When a business and/or website is listed in the BBB, you can at least rest assured that the business exists and hasn't been made up for a scam. The business or website can even be more trustworthy when they have a high rating from the bureau or when they have become a member of the bureau, in which case they have the follow the bureau's better business guidelines. A low rating usually means that the business has a lot of unresolved customer complaints. The BBB even has an online program for websites.

Yelp.com

"Yelp was founded in 2004 to help people find great local businesses like dentists, hair stylists and mechanics." Yelp is a website where people can go to report their experiences with local businesses and others can read the review. Its like a giant customer service survey.

RipOffReport.com
Rip Off Report's website offers a service where consumers can vent about any situation in which they feel they've been mistreated by a business or website. All the content has been posted by consumers like you. The information that can be found here is about as reliable as wikipedia.com. The information is mostly correct, however since anybody can post what they want, there are times when misinformation is posted. For example, if a return policy is clearly stated before purchase, and a customer purchases an item but didn't pay attention, then they can complain about all aspects of the company (even more than the return policy) simply because they are angry. Despite the fact that the information comes from disgruntled customers, RipOffReport.com is still an excellent source for finding out experiences from past customers or website users, and that information can help you in deciding whether to use the products or services yourself.

Make Sure a "Get Paid To" site actually pays:

GPTBoycott.com
This boycott website has a list of websites and get-paid-to (GPT) programs that have failed to pay their clients on a consistent basis. They also have a watch list with websites that will either be eventually moved to the boycott list or to the confirmed list. GPTBoycott.com also has tips for recognizing fake websites and scams. If a website is on the boycott list or even the watch list at gptboycott.com, I wouldn't go near it.

BeenPaid.com
Beenpaid.com has a list of paying GPT programs, and is the sister site for GPTBoycott.com. I personally have not tested the programs listed on beenpaid.com, however I have been pleased enough with gptboycott.com to list beenpaid.com here. BeenPaid.com has a seal of approval program where they give an award to programs that are exceptional.

Get Information and Tips, Report a Scam:

OnGuardOnline.gov
Another governement website; On Guard Online doesn't offer information on specific websites and companies, but their tips and education on recognizing internet scams can be very useful. They also give information on how you can file a complaint which law enforcers will use to build cases against the scammers.

ConsumerWebWatch.org

Consumer Reports - Get Information on a Specific Product