Nowadays, it’s really hard to detect any suspicious links that seem to be fishy without clicking them. One never knows the black hole a link could lead to. Caution is of utmost importance. You think “If I click this link, I may get a virus”, sometimes you may click, sometimes you don’t. So, here are the few things that might help you to predict a link before you click them.
Hover over the links:
This is the simplest and most basic method to find a suspicious link. All you have to do is just hover over a link which is covered or you think is a suspicious link. For example, below are a couple of examples:
- www.cyberintro.net this is a proper link which is linked to the home page of this blog. If you hover over the link, it will show https://cyberintro.net at the bottom left of your browser.
- www.cyberintro.net this is an improper link which doesn’t link to the homepage of this blog. It doesn’t link to what you’re seeing. If you hover this link, you can notice that the link as http://cyber-intro.net.
By this way, you can hardly find the direct links. But there are many link shortening services are available to hide the suspicious links. which you cannot find by this method.
Uncover shortened URLs:
There are many link shortening services were available like bit.ly, goo.gl, etc., to shorten your long URLs. Some Short URLs were legit and others might not legit. You can easily find the hidden link behind those short URLs by using some services like CheckShortURL, Unshorten, etc., Below is a result of these services.
Use link scanners:
If you still having fear about the suspicious links, you may try some Link scanning services. They scan the link for the suspicious activity and will give you the result of your submitted link. Some of the Link services are Norton SafeWeb, URLvoid. You may check CyberIntro result here.
These testing links is just a prevention. It is not the accurate answer or solution to prevent from Suspicious Links but a method to prevent. “Prevention is better than cure“.
Also read – Top 10 Online Scams You Must Be Aware Of.
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