Hey all, after clicking on one of those 'click this link scams' a few weeks ago I'm really paranoid when it comes to clicking on links. I just received a $2 game from a friend on Steam and to accept it I need to click on an email I received, but I'm worried that it's a malicious link.
How can I be sure it's safe?
Thank you!
the life of a windows user…..
run linux and if you need windows run it in a VM or use wine if possible.
Not all security issues are OS related. Phishing scams aren't. Heartbleed wasn't. Etc. Linux users are probably more tech savvy so less likely to be victims, but that has nothing to do with their OS but being a generally more secuirty conscious user.
I use windows all day, everyday on a variety of systems and I never have any issues.
that is true i belive it all comes down to user aware.
its not hard to get scammed and its not only via the OS that it happens it could even come down to the mail you receive in the letter box if you are not careful enough, i have caught out a few scammers this way yet to be fooled.
the big problem is that a lot of non tech savy or experienced people use windows be it on a daily basis and have a high chance of being scammed one way or another and it is a sorry story to hear about it.
Hi there, running Linux isn't really feasible for my situation.
Is there a free service I can use that I can enter a suspicious website into to check if it's legitimate or not?
if you are worried about security of your PC then dont be tight get some decent spyware/malware/antivirus for your PC and go from there.
If you are able to confirm that your friend has sent you the link, then it should be fine.
Prior to clicking any links, hovering over a link can tell you quite a story without having to click on it.
If you hover over a link before clicking on it, you can see where it leads in the lower corner of your browser window (usually, the status bar).
You can also right click it and hit Copy Link Location, and paste it into a text box (like your URL bar, but make sure not to press Enter)
Then look very closely at the link and see where it takes you.
It also pays to read some literature too, and learn about the tricks that are commonly employed to make people click on malicious links.
http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/phishing-sy…
http://www.geekpolice.net/t28677-how-to-tell-if-a-link-is-sa…
Well if it tells you to login with one of your social accounts then you're gonna have to rethink about the site and if possible do a thorough research.
come to think of it if you have a steam account and log in you should see some sort of info regarding your friends games he has given you…. at the end of the day if you are not sure well dont clicky the link and ask your friend about it.
I have Bitdefender Total Security installed. It regularly pops up warnings of malicious sites.
Sometimes the TEXT of a link, is different to the HTML of a link. So wipe across the TEXT with the mouse, then copy and paste that into the browser. Sort of like what scrimshaw said above. If the two are different, it's a dead giveaway it's a scam. e.g. I'm thinking of sites like ebay, where it's obvious if the url is not what it should be, after pasting it the browser field. i.e. It should have www.ebay.com then / then whatever. If it has www.ebayuser.com - or something else, who knows… Another scam.
Type "scam" and the suspect url/business name/etc. into a search engine. This doesn't guarantee it's safe of course - but it does quickly reveal malicious sites other people have whined about.
Have two computers. Keep stuff you can't bear to lose goes on the one not connected to the internet. Or at least a separate backup HDD that only gets connected to sync files.
Do a… what do they call it… system backup - no that's not it… System Restore Point maybe? Do it just before clicking the link. And for that matter, use "sandboxie" or "sandboxy" first. (Unsure of spelling - do a search for it.)
Run a virtual machine. I say that, but I tried it myself a few years ago, and it was too complicated - hours later I still couldn't get it to work.
Oh - and one I sometimes use is email the site. Ask a simple question that requires more than a couple of word answer. If you get someone who has basic errors in english every sentence - forget it.
Right click on the link and use any installed software ( bitdefender,malwarebytes) to scan it first.
I'd recommend "Web of Trust" as a good browser plugin to help with this kind of thing.
It's usually quite easy, when you see the link just hover over it and see the bottom left/right corner of your browser, and check whether it's linking to a weird url. You may see something like paypalsupport.xyz or things like that if it's a phishing scam.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/https-everywhere/g… <-good add-on
Generally don't click links with addresses other than .com etc. I find that a lot of those are malicious.
Don't click links that you are unfamiliar with…Other than that I don't know. If it's too good to be true, it's probably not.