This article explains how to test a suspicious link without clicking on it. It focuses on expanding short links, verifying unsolicited emails, and decoding links with strange characters. It includes general safety tips for avoiding suspicious links using link scanners and anti-malware or antivirus software.
How to Check a Suspicious Web Link Without Clicking on It
One sign that your link may be dangerous is that the URL appears too short. While link shortening services like Bitly are popular and widely used tools for creating shorter links, malware distributors and phishers use link shortening to hide the real destinations of their links.
You can’t tell if a short link is dangerous just by looking at it. Use a link expansion service like CheckShortURL or URL Expander to reveal the true intended destination of a short link. Some link expander sites will even tell you if the link is on a list of known “bad sites.” Another option is to load a browser plugin that will show you the destination of a short link when you right-click on it.
A common phishing scam involves sending an email that appears to come from your bank. These emails typically instruct victims to “verify your details” by clicking on a link, purporting to go to the bank’s website.
