Tech tip - How To Check If Links Are Safe or Spam
If you’ve ever had an email or sent a PDF with a link in it and you were unsure it was safe or not and wanted a way to check, here is how:
Five ways to check if the link is safe:
First you need to copy the link you are unsure of, don't worry, by copying the link into memory will not compromise your computer. Place the mouse over any highlighted link, click the right mouse button and select "Copy Hyperlink".
Then you need to visit one or all of the following websites and paste the saved hyperlink into the URL box displayed on the web page then click to search and it will tell you if there are any vulnerabilities you should be aware of.
- Check the status of a website URL using Google’s Transparency Report, which uses Google’s Safe Browsing technology. Goto: https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search?hl=en
- Use ScanURL to check a website for malware, phishing, viruses, and poor reputation. Goto: https://scanurl.net/
- Use URLVoid to check a website’s reputation and detect potentially malicious links. Goto: https://www.urlvoid.com/
- Use VirusTotal to scan a web page for malicious links. Goto: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/
- Check any link that you suspect is a phishing site by using PhishTank. Goto: https://www.phishtank.com/