Can you trust what you find online?

The Internet is here to stay and, in most ways, it has the potential to make our lives much easier.

It also creates a cost-saving opportunity; I spotted a book I wanted in a shop on Saturday, did a quick check on Amazon via an iPhone app before buying it and was able to get it £10 cheaper online.

The shop in question had very long queues at the tills and I was in no rush to get the book, so pressing one button to order it online with free super saver delivery seemed only logical.

But the Internet also contains many dangers, as those of us with young children will be acutely aware and anyone who has a PC infected with a computer virus might attest.

It was interesting to read in The Telegraph yesterday an article by Dan Hyde describing the problem with ‘lead generation’ companies buying search engine results in the retail financial services market.

Dan explained that Internet marketing firms are advertising on search engines (using ‘pay per click’ advertising), capturing the personal details of those approaching retirement and then selling it on to other firms.

Some of these marketing firms give the impression they provide advice, which they of course are not authorised to do.

Where they sell your details on to annuity brokers or advisers, there is naturally a cost incurred by the firm buying the leads, which is ultimately passed on to the end consumer.

The Internet can at times be a little like the Wild West.

We have seen examples in the past of commercial debt management firms advertising on search engines using search terms designed bring up results for debt management charities.

There is also the dubious practice of buying search terms which are company names; something Google and others have taken steps to stamp out in recent years.

You can trust much of what you find online to be accurate, fair and not misleading.

However, there is no substitute for contacting an authorised and regulated firm of Chartered Financial Planners directly when you need advice, rather than going through expensive and sometimes crooked middlemen.

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