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Investigate


Is the Business Legit?

Before you work with a business, see if they're worthy.

Your first stop should be to see if they have a license issued by your city or state. In Washington State, that's at the Department of Licensing.
KnowX: From LexisNexis, provides business background checks, locates assets, investigates property values and more using public records compiled from official data sources.
GuideStar: Information about IRS-registered nonprofit organizations.

CorporationWiki: Search for companies and people; see relationships between companies and executives.

Crunchbase: Free database of tech companies; anyone can add info. Find descriptions, founders , contact info and more.

Find Similar Companies

VentureBeat: If the company is relatively new or tech-related.

SimilarWeb: Doesn't always find an exact match, but it's worth a try.

Who are They?

Learn about the people you're doing business with.
LinkedIn: Of course people write their own profiles, but it's an easy place to start.

Been Verified: Look up public records.

Free Public Records Search Directory: Links to resources by state.

Pipl: people search

White Pages: reverse phone lookup to get name, address, previous addresses; even look up a person's neighbors.

Charity Checks

Guidestar: provides good snapshots of organizations even before you need to login.

EO Select Check: from the IRS, provides source info on tax exempt organizations and those who have lost that status.

Is it a Scam?

Check out these sites to avoid being taken.
Craigslist: scam resources

FBI: e-scams and warnings

Federal Trade Commission: how to avoid identity theft and more

Internet Scambusters

National Fraud Information Center

Ripoff Report

Snopes

Truth in Advertising: learn if that advertising claim is legit or not

USA.gov: consumer frauds and scams




Clean Up Your Online Act

If you're trying to limit your exposure, take a look:

How to Delete Yourself from the Internet (Seth Rosenblatt, CNET)

Before You Click That Link

Watch out for phishing, which is a way for someone to steal your personal information. It usually involves a link in an email. If you don't recognize the link or it looks suspicious, i.e., it's sent with a generic greeting or none at all, DO NOT CLICK IT.

Phishing emails may look like they're coming from someone you know or a well-known business or organization (even one you use). The links will lead you to a site where you may be asked to provide personal information — such as credit card number, social security number, account number or password. Legitimate websites ask for this information via email.

Use the following site to check suspicious links. If it's a bad link, be sure to mark the email as spam and delete immediately.

OnlineLinkScan

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Research Warning

No matter what information you're looking for, always evaluate the legitimacy of the source, cross-reference the data with multiple sources and consider the impact of what you're using or sharing. This is especially true when performing research about individuals, financial data, and anything else upon which you're going to base critical decisions.

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