“Trust, But Verify”

Thanks, Ronnie for the words of wisdom.

I wonder if our former president would have ever fathomed that $11.7 billion would be lost to fraud among online adults in the year ending April 2004 (according to Gartner Group) or that 60% of the sites claiming to offer help to Katrina victims were likely bogus (according to the FBI). It's no wonder so many Internet users avoid online transactions because they are afraid of getting ripped off or nervous about their financial information being stolen.


Trust, but verify: I think this is exactly what GeoTrust had in mind when they introduced their new TrustWatch Search today.

Powered by Ask Jeeves algorithmic search technology, the new service is designed to combat web-based fraud, identity theft and phishing scams. Users simply type queries into the search box at www.trustwatch.com and view easily understood green, yellow and red verification symbols beside each search result that represent the web site's trustworthiness rating.

For example, users wanting to donate money for tsunami relief can type "Tsunami Relief Organizations" directly into the TrustWatch search box. The Ask Jeeves search engine will return relevant search results based on each site's authority on that specific topic, including redcross.org, usaid.gov, directrelief.org and americares.org. Each result will also appear with the TrustWatch rating prominently displayed, so users can quickly select trustworthy sites and donate with confidence.

I really like the service. Give it a try.

Patrick Crisp, Corporate Communications