SCAMMERS have many tricks up their sleeves to try and convince you to click on their malicious links.
One type of link may seem harmless at first sight but can be just as dangerous as a more obvious scam link.
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The link you never want to click was brought to light by cyber security company and tech expert Kaspersky on how URL shorteners work, how they can be used, and the privacy and security threats they pose.
The tech expert highlighted that you want to avoid “disguised malicious links” that show up as shortened links.
Some scammers will send a shortened version of their estranged link to make it look more convincing.
Scam links will usually have tons of weird numbers, symbols, and misspellings but shortening the link can help them bypass that.
Shortening links can be easily done through a URL shortener online.
The shortened link may make cause a victim to overlook the need to rethink if it is a scam link.
Short links make it impossible to catch mistakes in the URL at first glance.
“You can only find out where a link points after clicking. And by then it may be too late — if the attackers exploit a zero-click vulnerability in the browser, the infection can occur as soon as you land on the malicious site,” Kaspersky said.
Another goal of the scam is to catch you at the right moment when you may be paying less attention.
The scam links can lead to websites that will ask for personal information to steal your money.
They can also lead you to a malicious source that puts a virus on your computer.
