Tips to avoid malicious links

Online banking or net banking provides a lot of ease to customers in terms of speed and flexibility. However, online portals are littered with potential hackers who are on the hunt for the slightest slack from the users end in order to steal data for corrupt practices.

It is a common practice to generate illusory links to dupe users. Here are a few instances of such links and suggestions for avoiding them:

1. Mailers:

Never click on bank related links which come through emails. Banks refrain from sending their customers access links as mailed links lack in security and the network can be intercepted.

2. Duplicate sites:

Hackers create duplicate fake sites of the original page in order to fool gullible customers who enter their bank details without double-checking the site. The logo, links and format of the page is mirrored exactly and can get hard for users to spot the difference.

Avoid these sites by checking for the ‘s’ in https. If your banking website is showing http instead of https, it surely is not the secure site you intended to open.

3. Fake entities:

Sometimes it may so happen that the site is genuine, but the site entities like sellers or suppliers are fake. You may make the payment without double checking and end up paying to an entirely non-existent entity which will consume your cash but give no returns. In such cases, it s imperative to check the rating of the seller and also go through as many reviews as possible.

4. Direct Payment Links:

Always try to pay the supplier using intermediary options like the e-commerce website’s payment option. This way the website will ensure that the supplier is not paid until the item is safely delivered to the customer, acting as an insulation against fake sellers.

5. Advertised Links:

Refrain from clicking on advertised links which lead you directly to payment options and does not even guarantee encryption. If you are interested in a certain advertised product, research it and look for the genuine website, if at all present. It is easy to intercept advertising network channels in order to extract data.

6. Social Media Links

 Be wary of social media as they are the means to spread evil in large scale with the speed of fire. A virus prone link can steal all your saved browser data and make you vulnerable to harmful hacks.