Patent ID: 7739512

Claim:
A method of verifying the authenticity of an Internet web site comprising the steps of: using a verification server that comprises a processor to store data, wherein the data comprises: approved site identifications associated with corresponding approved Internet web sites, and user originated identifiers received from corresponding users during a registration process, wherein each user originated identifier is associated with a corresponding user ID that identifies a registered user, user originated identifier is separated from user ID; receiving, at the verification server, a request from a user interfacing at a user browser to authenticate the Internet web site, wherein the request includes a site identification associated with a web page of the Internet web site to be authenticated and a user ID associated with the user sending the request to authenticate the Internet web site at the verification server, comparing the received site identification associated with the web page of the Internet web site to be authenticated with the approved site identifications associated with the approved Internet web sites stored at the verification server; identifying, from the user originated identifiers stored at the verification server, a user originated identifier that corresponds to the received user ID; and based on the comparison, sending an indication from the verification server to the user whether or not the Internet web site is authentic, the indication including the identified user originated identifier that corresponds to the received user ID back to the user.