Where Is That Hyper-Link Taking You?

I just read a post in a private Google discussion group from the group’s moderator. He received an email that looked like it was from Google, telling him that there was a problem with his AdSense account. He was instructed to click on the link to correct the problem.

After clicking on the link, he alertly noticed that the URL in his browser’s address bar did not belong to Google, so he did not supply his login details. Had he typed in his details, chances are good that his password would have been changed (effectively locking him out of his own account), his account would have been used for some illicit purpose, and this guy would have lost a lot of money.

It’s been a while since I talked about this, so I’d like to go over a few tips that can help protect you should you receive one of these emails:

1. If you get an email from Google, PayPal, eBay, a bank, or any other company, saying that there’s a problem with you account, do NOT click on the link! Instead, contact the company using a trusted phone number or visit their website by typing their URL in your web browser or by using a trusted link. Never take what you see in an email at face value.

2. If you accidentally click on one of these links, close your web browser and follow the instructions in Step 1. But before you do, look carefully at the URL in the address bar. Chances are good that you will not be on the entity’s web site; instead, you’ll see something like “www.paypal.com.someroguecompany.com/login”. The actual domain is the part just before the “.com” (or “.org”, “.net”, two letter country code, etc.). In this case, the actual domain is not PayPal, it’s “someroguecompany.com”.

3. If you think a link may be legitimate, try this: Put your mouse pointer on the URL, then look at the address displayed in the status bar at the bottom of your web browser (if you don’t see the status bar, go to the “View” menu and ensure that “Status Bar” is checked. In Internet Explorer, you’ll have to look on the “Toolbars” menu, which is under the “View” menu). That is the actual URL that you will be visiting.

As an example, put your mouse pointer on the following link:

http://www.TheBusinessProtector.com

Although the link says that it’s for this website (TheBusinessProtector.com), if you click on the link, you’ll be taken to another website I own — tdbx.com — where you’ll see a sales page for a computer security interview I did a while back with my good friend and marketing mentor, Willie Crawford. In this case, the link is harmless (actually, the interview is quite good and you may want to get a copy), but in the case of scam emails, you could be in for a lot of trouble.

4. As a general rule, a bank most likely will not contact you via insecure email regarding a problem with your account. Be suspicious of any email that claims to be from your bank (or other entity that deals with money) and announces some issue with your account.

Please be careful, and if this post is helpful or wasn’t quite clear, please leave a comment to let me know.