It is not uncommon to find users in our comments section asking how they can report a website. Although it is usually related to fraudulent online stores, the truth is that there are other reasons to report a web page, such as publishing our photos without our permission or plagiarism of content, among others, or even cases related to impersonation of identity.
When you are the victim of an illegal web page, you can (and should) resort to filing a complaint to, among other things, get the web page closed so that scams or scams do not continue to occur on them or to put a stop to the criminal act that is taking place.
Write down the website that commits the crime and take screenshots
The first thing you should do to report a website for scam is to write down its URL, as well as the URL of the page where the item or product you purchased was listed.
You must also take screenshots of all this, of the main page of the website and the product page, of the purchase process until you reach the moment of payment. As you may have already been a victim of the scam, it is a matter of repeating the process (but without finalizing the purchase), in order to gather sufficient evidence of the fraudulent site.
Taking a screenshot is as easy as pressing the PrintScreen key and then copying it into Paint or PhotoShop. If you use Windows 10, you can also use the Windows + Shift + S key combination to make a screen cutout in Windows 10. And if you use Mac, the keys are Shift + Command + 3.
It is also recommended that you take screenshots of all the private messages that you have had with the seller, both via SMS or instant messaging app or email.
Communicate it to the person in charge of the website
In the event that the scam is related to a buying and selling platform or application, such as Wallapop or Vinted, or to a Marketplace, such as Amazon’s, the next step to report a website is to contact them responsible for that platform or application, so that they can take the necessary measures against the seller / scammer.
Among the measures that are usually taken in these cases are:
- Remove the fraudulent ad.
- File a seller complaint.
- Collaborate with the state security forces and bodies if an investigation of fraud occurs.
- Save the proof of payment
Keep the proof of payment in a safe place and make copies of it, it is the most important proof that you will present together with the complaint, especially when you have bought something and it has never reached your hands.
Whether you make the payment via credit card, bank transfer or using applications such as PayPal, you will be able to obtain a copy of the payment made, which will contain details of the seller and the fact that the transaction took place.
File a complaint with the Consumer Service Office so that they close the website
This is a previous step to making the complaint before the state security forces and bodies. If you have been the victim of an online store, you can go to the Municipal Consumer Information Office (OMIC).
Among their help and advice functions, they are also in charge of processing consumer claims, through a conciliation service between the parties.
Report the website on Google
While this step won’t make the scam page go away completely, it can help make it harder to find, as Google will remove it from its search engine.
To make a complaint through Google, we must go to its Safebrowsing service and indicate there the URL of the fraudulent online store, fill in the form with all the relevant information and click on “Send report”.
Google will analyze the web page in question; If the complaint is admitted, Google will proceed to deindex the website from the search engine.
Complaint to the police
Finally, you can always go to the police to report a fraudulent online page.
To do this, you must bring printed and in digital format (either a flash drive or a CD) all the tests that we have mentioned before and copies of them. Fill out the complaint at the police station and you will only have to wait for the results of the investigation, something that can take time.
To make this type of complaint you can use the form available on the website of the Civil Guard’s Telematic Crimes Group; once completed and printed, you can take it to the nearest police station to formalize the complaint.
