Quick Help! How do you know if a web-site is legit..

[Wishing on a star]

I am looking for something in particular, and after much searching, found this item on a web-site called theworldwide.org.

Now, this does not exactly look like a reputable site such as ebay, etoys, etc... I decided to try to 'contact' the site before ordering, just to see what kind of response I would get, and the first link I tryed did not even work. I finally tryed a different link, and did get a response that I felt seemed a little 'terse'. ( I am thinking they thought I was asking for a free shipping upgrade, when I really just told them I wanted to make sure the items were available to ship asap. I would need these in a couple weeks.)

I need to order several of these items. And, I really do not want to be disappointed, or end up in a huge e-nightmare. I mean, I would have to be entering my credit card number to order, my email address, etc.

Surely somebody here knows some way to check on an e-business. I hope so.

Thanks!

 

[Dan Murphy]

 

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks for the bump!

 

[Amberle3]

You can go to a site called www.samspade.org which has a bunch of options to let you look into the ownership of any domain.

That one is owned by James F Lewis, his address and phone number are listed, the sponsoring registrar was Go Daddy Software. It also says client renew is prohibited, I don't know exactly what that means.

There's one inconsistency with the registration - in one place it has him listed in Maryland, in another it's Virginia.

The phone number listed for Mr Lewis actually belongs to PC Upgrade Net (used Switchboard.com to find that)

That's all I've been able to come up with.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Wow, thanks! You're good!!!

I am going to search around some more myself too. I know I had heard of a couple places you could check for this kind of thing, on a news special-interest story or something.... To bad I didn't write them down back then!

 

[Margie J]

Domain Name:THEWORLDWIDE.ORG
Created On:06-Jun-2000 20:27:18 UTC
Last Updated On:17-Mar-2004 10:17:48 UTC
Expiration Date:06-Jun-2010 20:27:18 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Go Daddy Software, Inc. (R91-LROR)



Looks like James hasn't done a website upgrade in a while. Strange for a business IMO.



Tech Name:JAMES F. LEWIS
Tech Organization:JAMES F. LEWIS
Tech City:Temple Hills
Tech State/Province:Virginia
Tech Postal Code:20748

Registrant Name:JAMES F. LEWIS
Registrant City:Temple Hills
Registrant State/Province:Maryland
Registrant Postal Code:20748



Looks like he doesn't know what State his business is in either.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Boy, searches do not pull up ANYthing on theworldwide.com. They must have their real identity pretty well obscured. So, I do a quick search on godaddy.... This pulls up a lot of questionable info! Some downright complaints. Including the fact that they had not been renewing their customers registrations like they should. And, get this. Apparantly they take no responsibility for hosting 'disreputable' businesses.

Here is a quote, regarding allegations against godaddy, from a site called ripoffreport.com
__________________________________________________________
We will remain engaged in this matter because this has been reported to various agencies, including yourselves without results. We are especially concerned because of the growing number of disreputable businesses you represent.
___________________________________________________________


Jeez!!! All I wanted was some toys for my nephew!!! Sure wish I could find these somewhere else!