I am sure you must have received emails stating offers that are too good to be true, either from your favorite holiday destination, or your aviation company.
Yes! What did the offer look like or rather what did it read like?
I am sure it must have read something like a 50% discount on your favorite destination. All costs included. Book now!
This urgency in the message is to make you act fast so that you don’t see the minor details that may tell you that the button you will click, may hide a malicious code.
Yes, you read it right a malicious code – malware, ransomware (can read about it in the R post), or even a virus (more about it in the next post).
How Is It Done?
Welcome, to the other level of hacking – URL Spoofing!
What is URL Spoofing?
URL Spoofing is a technique used by hackers to build a fake URL that looks exactly like the original and the trusted one. But here’s a twist. The URL is created by playing with the characters that fool the system, and if you are not careful, it can fool you as well.
How Can You Stay Safe and Prevent URL Spoofing?
- Be vigilant
- Call the concerned organization
- Be wary of any attachments that you are not sure about
- Hide your IP address
- Keep changing your password
- Check before you click on any link
- Use a dedicated secure browser
- Use strong antivirus protection
How To Recognize URL Spoofing?
While it is difficult to spot a spoofed URL, it always pays to play safe online and follow these tips to secure yourself.
- Take your cursor over the link to figure out any discrepancy in the URL.
- Read the link carefully – there can be a spelling error or a character that resembles regular letters.
- Independent visits to the concerned ‘website’ can save from URL Spoofing.
- Keep your devices protected with strong antivirus, and antimalware.
- Immediately report the URL Spoofs.
DeepTech Writer 
Informative post Swati!
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thank you Radhika. Glad you liked it.
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This happens a lot. Good that you brought to others notice! I myself have been a victim of such URL spoofing many times after which I became very cautious! Funniest of all is win a iPhone trap 🙂 many fall for it
Dropping by from a to z “The Pensive”
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Hi Afshan,
Yes, this is the most common form of hacking mainly because we get distracted by the attractive discounts and fail to read in between the lines.
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How do you practice caution Afshan? What steps do you take to keep yourself safe online? Please do share here.
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I use a program called discord for voice chat with friends, ther is a similar thing done there to steal credentials using a spoof but with a nice graphic that shows everything you would want and once you click it… woo boy. so watch those pictures too.
Good post and safety tips
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Are you on Discord? I use it to connect with technical people including data scientists and AI engineers and of course my son LOL. Because he and his friends are mostly on discord discussing things like IPL and schools.
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I hate it when this is done. I check URLs very carefully if I don’t delete the suspicious emails first. I guess they do this somehow with telemarketing calls as well. I wish they’d all stop this deception.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
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Hi Arlee,
I am so honored and humbled to receive feedback from you. Yes, all this deception gets on to the nerves, but the fact remains that hackers feed on this deception. As long as there are people gullible enough to bite the bait, cybercriminals will have a field day.
Thank you for stopping by and taking out time to read and leaving your footprints as well. May God Bless you.
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helpful information. You can never be too careful.
U
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True that! No matter how safe you try to be, there will be some loopholes.
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Ah finally a post about a term I am familiar with! I am very cautious and I never open links from people/ids I don’t recognize.
Dropping by via A-Z challenge from momandideas.com
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Hey Anu,
My first reaction to your comment was a burst of hearty laughter. Yes, you do a wise thing, but at times even that can prove dangerous, so if a link is suspicious, mark it Spam there and then.
I am so unhappy that the story ended, but please collate it into one blog, give it a suitable title and you will have another blockbuster blog ready.
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