The Beijing Olympics have had their first taste of scandal.  With only a few days left before the Opening Ceremonies, an internet ticket fraud scheme has been uncovered.  Victims of the global Olympic ticketing scam have been duped out of millions of dollars after buying tickets on a fake website.  The International Olympic Committed filed a lawsuit last week, accusing at least six websites of selling nonexistent or illegitimate tickets to the Games.  The sites looked professional, carried the official Beijing Games logo and provided phone numbers and office addresses.  They looked official in every way.

I caught the story last night on my local news channel and immediately began looking for more information about the story.  It seems the scam was first reported in March 2008.  And yet one of the sites in question was still running as late as Monday of this week. 

The Beijing Olympics internet ticket fraud scheme serves as an example to all online business owners and anyone who transacts business on the internet of how easy it is to be duped in our digital world.  So here are my top seven tips to help you avoid internet fraud.

1. Buy from companies you know and trust.

2. Do your research. If the company is unknown to you, spend some time doing research online. Even typing

[COMPANY NAME] and scam into Google will yield some information (if any is to be had).

3. Pay by credit card.  You can dispute the charge through Visa (or MasterCard or AMEX) if you have problems later.  (Click here for a related article on Visa refunds for Olympic Victims)

4. Avoid judging reliability by how nice or polished a Web site seems.  Look at the photo above.  It sure does look professional.  It is relatively easy and inexpensive for anyone to create, register and promote a Web site.

5. Always look for contact information.  Reputable vendors usually list name, address, phone number and email.  Call or email to see if the phone number or email address is working. 

6. Don’t give our your credit card number online unless the site is a secure and reputable site.

7. Keep track of your confirmation emails and receipts.