How to tell if an Internet address is a phish
Did you ever wonder what the different parts of an Internet address or URL actually signified? Some years ago I wrote an article over at my education site that explained what each of the various pieces of an URL meant. I also mentioned how rarely used portions of a standard URL could be used to mask or obfuscate addresses. With phishing rampant, it has become a very good idea to be able to understand Internet addresses so that you can detect when a phishing link is not what it purports to be. Then, if an email says it’s from your bank but careful attention to the header (see this previous post) shows that it came from a foreign country, you can know you’re being phished.
You can also check out links within an email but be very careful not to actually open a link. Right-click a link you want to investigate and choose “Properties” from the context menu. Then you can read what the link actually is. Note that what appears to be the link in the text of an email can say anything. What counts is the actual underlying HTML and that is what you can read by right-clicking. Whatever you do, don’t enter sensitive personal information into any form opened from an email unless you are 100% sure of its origin. Instead of using an email link, go to the Web site of your bank or whatever institution directly.
How can you tell if an URL is a phish once you read it? Check every component very carefully. Phishers are clever at placing pieces of what seems like legitimate destinations in an URL. But something will always look suspicious. For example, check the country code. Does your bank send emails from China?
A number of anti-malware programs now have link scanners that you can use to check if a link is legitimate. However, these scanners depend on some sort of database and the database may not be up to date. Phishers often use a link for a few hours only and then abandon it for a new one. So a clean bill of health from a link scanner is not definitive.
In addition to my article on the components of a link that is mentioned above, you can look at a recent post from SEOmoz, called SEO Cheat Sheet: Anatomy of A URL
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