Verify short links before clicking

I was once hacked as i clicked on short link that was directed to a phishing website. I do advice to all to check short links before clicking on it.

Here is one of the useful online tool that might help you very much.

http://checkshorturl.com/expand.php

I hope none will ever be hacked again.

Yeap, have posted this on another thread too.

Quote from: whotookmycrypto on April 10, 2019, 11:25:02 AM

Scammers also commonly use URL shorteners to mask their links. Examples include bitly and rebrandly.

Example of a shortened link: https://bit.ly/2Vzd1C9

Instead of clicking the link to check out where it leads, throw the link into websites like http://redirectdetective.com.

This is what would appear:

And quoting myself from the same thread above:

Quote from: TryNinja on April 11, 2019, 06:31:43 PM

For most famous redirect website, you can just add a "+" (plus symbol) at the end of the URL and you'll go to a page where it shows everything about the redirection link (the final destination, clicks, stats, etc...).

Example:
https://bit.ly/2Vzd1C9+

Add this one https://www.browserling.com/ you can check the link first with this virtual browser where you can check the link destination and what it looks like.

Add this one https://www.virustotal.com/ it also detects if there is malware from the posted URL or a website.

It's a very important point OP. we have so many people creating guides here and Newbies can easily be tricked into clicking on malicious and phishing websites just because the links have either been shortened or have been masked using the forum's hyperlink insertion feature.
Members have to be pay so much attention to the links they visit.

Thank you OP for sharing useful stuff. Despite that I'm quite experienced member here, I wasn't aware that's possible to verify shortlinks in such way. It's good to know now that such useful tools existsClicking shortlinks is always risky, especially if it's been posted by new member because you don't know where this link will redirect you. So, websites like you've posted is very helpful. To the bookmarks!

Quote from: matej451 on April 24, 2019, 11:52:05 AM

I was once hacked as i clicked on short link that was directed

I never click on such links. They are only used (98% of cases) to hide original URL so something malicious.
I don't know real use case that would require to use shortcut of link.
Better not see something than be sorry later on.

Quote from: matej451 on April 24, 2019, 11:52:05 AM

I was once hacked as i clicked on short link that was directed to a phishing website.

Rule of thumb: shortlinked or not, always check the address bar when logging in to websites. Or better, use a password manager plugin as the password field won't be populated by the password manager if the website you're in isn't the legitimate website.

Well that's some useful information although we don't want any one to get hacked but truth be told people will always fall victim and ignorance has a huge part to play as to that regards. So many of them ignore information and advice that can help limit there vulnerability

If you see a bit.ly link, you can add a '+' at the end to see the details, directly from the bit.ly site. Cool

I also noticed a similar issue on this forum, where people would provide a copy-paste link to a website (say a news site), but when you hover the mouse over the link, it is actually a hyperlink to a completely different website.

Always copy link and paste it to have a squiz at what it really is taking you to.

I put a link shortener on one of my domains - g8s.com, but I haven't used it for over a year. I used it to post links to images on my Jazz Pics site because the url is quite long. An example is
http://jazzpics.com/_data/i/upload/2016/10/02/20161002015142-3eab40b8-me.jpg

That is a picture of a McLaren car, so nothing untoward there. The software allows for the inclusion of an interstitial, and those can be really annoying.

Mistake charge experience. This is one better way after learning a lesson by sharing experiences either good or bad. I admire you OP on the concerns you have showed to the forum. I knew that there are many phising sites but never did I know that short links were being used to visit a phishing website. As we all know that creator of Phishing websites are doing also their best so that one could hardly distinguish between the fake and the original site. Even the links that found in the address bar they will alos copy it that will look like the original site by just adding or modify the original link a bit.

You should be always cautious when you see someone using short links as there is no need for them in forums.

URL shortners are used to get rid of disturbing long URLs which is not a problem here thanks to bbcode and the "URL" tag.

Thanks for that sharing that tool.

You shouldn't fill up any forms on that link shortener's link if it is asking you some personal information including login usernames, passwords and mostly, private keys or seed stuffs.

Quote from: matej451 on April 24, 2019, 11:52:05 AM

Thank you
The penetration process has increased a lot. I do not trust the links very much. I lost my Facebook account through the link after you entered your password. But do these links penetrate directly without any information?

Quote from: crairezx20 on April 24, 2019, 01:56:15 PM

Add this one https://www.virustotal.com/ it also detects if there is malware from the posted URL or a website.

I made [Guide] Virustotal scan guideline to detect viruses, trojans, malwares, worms two months ago. Someone who have not known how to use it, please read my guideline. The Virustotal site is a good free one, but it is also better to use professional antivirus or Internet security softwares.

Please don't hesitate to spend small amount of money for your fortune.

Checking a shortlink every single time before visiting it can be a very stressful process, I use my browser to save the passwords of sites I visit so anytime I follow a shortlink and it asks me to login and my login details doesn't autofill I crosscheck the url or i open a new tab and type the URL myself.