{"id":11352,"date":"2025-06-24T17:57:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T17:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/colemandev.directivesites.com\/these-link-checking-tools-might-save-your-bacon\/"},"modified":"2025-06-24T19:43:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T19:43:04","slug":"these-link-checking-tools-might-save-your-bacon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/?p=11352","title":{"rendered":"These Link Checking Tools Might Save Your Bacon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We often talk about scams and cyberthreats, and lately our advice for dealing with a potential phishing threat is to simply avoid it altogether.<\/p>\n

That is, when you get any kind of email or text message with a link you weren\u2019t expecting, whether it\u2019s from someone you know or from your bank, just don\u2019t click it. Instead, log into the account in question the way you normally would, and verify the information there, or confirm with the sender through some other means to make sure what they are sending is valid. While this is still a good practice, sometimes you need to click on a link. Here are a few tools you can use to check if a link is safe, before you click.<\/p>\n

Why Would a Link Be Dangerous?<\/h2>\n

First of all, why wouldn\u2019t you want to trust a link that someone you trust sends you?<\/p>\n

There are a lot of reasons. Even if it looks like a video message from your dear sweet Nana, or a virtual Christmas card from your youngest niece, there is a chance that the sender has been compromised and is trying to spoof their contacts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You want to know when it\u2019s probably not a scam or a threat? When your dear sweet Nana or your niece calls you up on the phone and asks you to look at it.<\/p>\n

That simple two-step confirmation makes all the difference in the world. Otherwise, you should consider the risks that maybe, just maybe, the sender was compromised and that the link you are being sent is malicious.<\/p>\n

The same goes for the business end of things.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Your coworker, business partner, vendor, or client might have no reason to do anything malevolent to you. If they fall for a trick themselves, though, a part of that trick might include spreading to all of their contacts.<\/p>\n

A malicious link could contain malware that infects your computer, tries to steal your data or access your online accounts, and also spreads itself as quickly as possible to anyone in your contacts list. Not only will you be the victim, but your friends, family, and colleagues will be YOUR victim, and so-forth.<\/p>\n

How to Safely Identify and Copy a Link<\/h2>\n

Before we get into the tools, let\u2019s quickly run through what we mean by a link.<\/p>\n

Basically, any text or graphic that is clickable and takes you to another page in your browser is a link. Sometimes, that link will be written out, with the https:\/\/ and the full URL.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For example, if it is a link to PayPal, it might look something like this: https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/us\/smarthelp\/PAYPAL_HELP_GUIDE\/getting-started-with-paypal-icf29<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Links could also just be text that is clickable. So instead of writing out the URL, the link might be something like this: Get Started with PayPal<\/a><\/p>\n

Now here\u2019s the thing. If you\u2019ve been paying attention, we\u2019ve already proven to you just how easy it is to trick a user into thinking they are going to one website, and taking them somewhere totally different. Both of the links above don\u2019t actually go to PayPal. We assure you that they are safe, but they are taking you to goofy fake mustache glasses on Amazon.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, links are graphics, like buttons, icons, pictures, or virtually anything else. If you can click or tap it and have it take you somewhere, it\u2019s a link, and any links can be spoofed very easily.<\/p>\n

If you want to tell where a link is going to take you, you need to copy the actual link:<\/p>\n

\u00a0On a Desktop or Laptop:<\/strong>
-Hover the mouse over the link.
-Right-click on the link.
-Select \u201cCopy Link\u201d or \u201cCopy Link Address\u201d or \u201cCopy Hyperlink\u201d<\/p>\n

Now you have the link copied, and you can paste it into one of the following tools with CTRL+V (or right-click and select Paste)<\/p>\n

On a Tablet or Smartphone:<\/strong>
-Be careful not to accidentally just tap the link to open it!
-Hold your finger over the link for a few seconds to pop up the context menu.
-Select \u201cCopy Link\u201d or \u201cCopy link address\u201d or \u201cCopy Hyperlink\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that you have the link copied, you can paste it into one of the following tools by holding your finger down over the URL field within the tool and selecting Paste.<\/p>\n

Safely Check a Link Before You Click it with These Tools<\/h2>\n

You can use the following tools to check the safety and legitimacy of a link. Keep in mind, this won\u2019t protect you from one hundred percent of all scams, as these tools can only check for known threats. It\u2019s also a good idea to use multiple tools to cross reference, in case some of the tools just haven\u2019t been made aware of the link you received.<\/p>\n

Use Norton Safe Web to Check a Link<\/strong>
Norton Safe Web is a free online tool that lets you paste a link to check to see if it\u2019s safe.<\/p>\n

It will give you a quick rating on the link. If the link is untested in Norton, it\u2019s a good idea to try a few of the other tools. If Norton states the link is dangerous, it\u2019s a pretty safe bet you should avoid it.<\/p>\n

<\/a>https:\/\/safeweb.norton.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Check the Link With PhishTank<\/strong>
The cleverly named PhishTank site will tell you if a link you received has been reported as a phishing scam. Phishing links tend to look pretty similar to legitimate web pages. For instance, a phishing link for PayPal might look almost exactly like the regular login page for PayPal. The problem is that it won\u2019t log you into PayPal, but it will send your PayPal credentials to someone else.<\/p>\n

<\/a>https:\/\/www.phishtank.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Google\u2019s Transparency Report Might Tell You If a Link is Unsafe<\/strong>
Google\u2019s search engine works by crawling the Internet and indexing everything it finds. Sometimes, it might run across dangerous content such as malware or phishing risks. Google\u2019s Transparency Report tool will tell you if a link you\u2019ve been sent is found in their massive database of unsafe content.<\/p>\n

<\/a>https:\/\/transparencyreport.google.com\/safe-browsing\/search<\/a><\/p>\n

Scan the Link with VirusTotal<\/strong>
Finally, there\u2019s VirusTotal. This tool takes a little longer to give you an answer, but it can be a little more thorough than the others. This is a good last-ditch effort if you aren\u2019t happy with the results from the other tools.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a>https:\/\/www.virustotal.com\/gui\/home\/url<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to keep in mind that a phishing scam or malware attack could still sneak through these tools, especially if the URL was just generated and you are among the first people to get it. These tools are designed to spot known<\/strong> phishing attacks and malware that has already been reported. With that in mind, it\u2019s still a good idea to err on the side of caution.<\/p>\n

If you feel like you\u2019ve received a suspicious email, text message, or other correspondence, and you would like us to take a look for you, don\u2019t hesitate to reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We often talk about scams and cyberthreats, and lately our advice for dealing with a potential phishing threat is to simply avoid it altogether. That is, when you get any kind of email or text message with a link you weren\u2019t expecting, whether it\u2019s from someone you know or from your bank, just don\u2019t click […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":10726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,62,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet","category-phishing","category-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11352"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12176,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11352\/revisions\/12176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}