Almost sent $2K to a fake reseller

Site looked perfect. Same logo, same footer text, same product photos. URL was contabo.com instead of contabo.com. SSL cert was from "Let's Encrypt" instead of "DigiCert" like the real site. That was the only visible difference.

I was one click from wiring $2,198 for a dedicated server. Something felt wrong. Checked cert details. Caught it.

The fake site even had working live chat. "Sarah" answered my technical questions in 30 seconds. Probably AI. Probably stolen from real support transcripts.

Posting this so others check. What else should we watch for? I want to make checklist.

(the SSL detail is good) (most people (and I mean most (like 99%)) never click the padlock) (but you should) (here's what I do (not that anyone asked)) (I check the certificate transparency logs (which you can do (ct.googleapis.com is one place)) (to see if a domain has sudden spike in certs (red flag)) (also (and this is important) (I never wire money to new resellers (only card with chargeback (or escrow for big stuff)))) (the AI chat is the scariest part (because it scales (infinitely (one "Sarah" or ten thousand)))) (mark my words (not that I say that (but someone should)) (this gets worse before better))

Check ASN.

Real Contabo: AS51167.

Fake site: hosted on random VPS. Different ASN.

Takes ten seconds. Whois. Done.

Also.

Wire transfer.

Never.

For first order.

Sir, I almost got same thing last month. Made VPS order on site looked like OVHcloud, but was ovhcloud.com. Paid with crypto, lost money sir.

Now I check:
- whois date (new domain = bad)
- support ticket before order (real team answers slow, fake is instant)
- company registration number

Thank you very much sir for sharing story. Saved me maybe more money in future.