Short links have been known on the Internet for more than 15 years and were created to simplify communication when a long and awkward hyperlink can be “wrapped” in a nice link and transmitted in a convenient format. But, as often happens, every useful invention eventually becomes a tool in the hands of fraudsters.
Today, the use of short links is one of the methods to hide criminal activity and deceive users.
How you can be deceived by short links:
Classic phishing - fraudsters hide a phishing site behind a short link, with a complex and often unreadable URL, under normal circumstances you would easily distinguish a suspicious domain, but the fraudulent domain hidden behind a short link is not obvious.
Redirect chain - fraudsters use any customer information, even your session, thanks to the redirect chain, you can get into an “endless” redirect between hundreds and thousands of sites, each of which will record your visit and record your session. There is no direct threat, but you will be used for behavioral trickery or simple DDoS attacks on certain sites. As soon as you notice frequent URL changes in your browser, close the link immediately
End link substitution - fraudsters can place useful resources on a certain short link and over time, another source will appear on the same link and you can unnoticeably give your login or card details to a third party. Always check where you leave your data.
Anonymity of the short link - fraudsters can even create their own shortener to collect additional links. Usually, users can shorten links to personal documents and screenshots without thinking about security, but remember - the shortener saves all your links in the database, and they must be password-protected or not contain personal information.
At the same time, simple security rules and the current level of technology development are aimed at combating phishing and unscrupulous users.
Use short links from trusted shorteners and take care of your own safety.