What does a phishing link look like? How to check links safely

There seems to be no end to fake emails that are cleverly designed to look like real messages from legitimate companies. As these phishing scams grow more convincing, how can you tell the fakes from the real thing? One line of defense: Learning how to spot a phishing link.

by Alyssa Schmitt

What is a phishing link?

“Phishing” is a scam designed to steal personal data and/or gain access to sensitive online accounts, either by tricking you into revealing the information or by installing malicious software on your device to steal it. One widespread form of phishing is emails sent by scammers containing hyperlinks to fraudulent websites. Such hyperlinks are often referred to as “phishing links.”

What do phishing links do?

When clicked, they candirect you to a fake pagedesigned to trick you into entering passwords, credit card numbers, or other personal data that can be used by the scammer. Or they cantrigger the download ofmalwareto your device.

How to check a link for phishing

In an email, a link will usually appear as blue, underlined text,like this link to our blog page, or as a button with text on it. This is called the hypertext, anchor text, or link text. However,the words of the link text do not always tell you what will actually happen if you click (or tap) on it. That’s why it’s important to look at the real destination – the web address, also called a URL – before you decide whether or not to open it.?

If you’d like to read more about URLs, see our deep dive: Is a URL the same as a link? URLs and web addresses explained

So, how do you check a link safely? Keep reading to find out.