You’re on a website and they offer a link to bring you to another page. Easy, right? Click and go. Or someone sends you a funny text message and there’s a link to view what they sent you. Neat! But did you know a link or website isn’t always what it seems? Many links can say one thing, but go somewhere else. Like this one here takes you to Google but it says something else – “here”. You can bring your mouse over it to see where it takes you (bottom left of your browser). But look closely at that web address, because it could be something else entirely.
How would you feel about going to this website?
I know, I know. You probably wouldn’t go there.
But what about this one?
Seems legit right? Unfortunately, no. Let’s take a step back, shall we?
Quick snip about web addresses (URLs)
A web address, also known as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is just a way to get you to a specific webpage on the Internet. But where it takes you can be hidden and easily missed if you’re not paying attention.
Before clicking on any link or going to any website, it’s important to first off trust who’s sending it to you. Do you know who they are in person? Did you just meet them online? In many cases, someone wanting to push you toward a dangerous link or website will make it time sensitive. “You need to click this now.” Or maybe, “Hurry and click the link to make $500 for the time expires! Limited offer!” Any time there’s a time constraint, be cautious of what you’re being sent and where they want you to go.
Back to the example
Here’s why that Bank of America link isn’t accurate. Look at the last a in “America”. Notice it looks a little different from the other two? That’s because that “a” is actually a part of the Russian, Ukrainian and other Slavic people’s alphabet, known as Cyrillic. Using that alphabet in the name is meant to trick you into thinking you’re going to the real site, but it will actually be a fake site. It might even look the same! But if you put your username and password into that site, your bank information was just given to someone else. Yikes!
Can I check somewhere?
Of course! There is a place you can go to online to check up on a website or link that you’re suspicious about. There’s an organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN for short, who has a search engine just for this. You can find their lookup website here.
So what happens if we put in the dangerous Bank of America website from earlier? We get this as a result.
If it was registered to a malicious person or party, it would list out something totally different than the real Bank of America.
Here’s a screenshot of the real one: Organization = “Bank of America Corporation”.
Not only should you take a pause to know where you’re being sent on the Internet, but it’s always a good thing to type in websites directly into your browser too. That way you can be sure you’re going where YOU want to go, and not where someone is trying to send you.
I hope this causes a little bit of pause if someone sends you a link or asks you to go to a website. Always do a double check of a website or URL!