A spoofed URL is a fraudulent or fake link disguised as a genuine URL to trick users and steal their data. Sometimes, only a single click is enough to infect your device with malware, viruses, and security threats.
Hackers use URL spoofing to hack into your device by tricking you with a legitimate website you trust. In this way, you won’t question the platform’s integrity and share your sensitive information, such as your name, date of birth, address, and passwords in some cases.
The information you enter on any spoofed link will go directly to the hacker which the hackers then use in various ways like hacking into your bank accounts and impersonating you on different social media platforms.
Spoofed websites mostly use phishing attacks and are sent through emails and text messages. The main game is to lure you into a trap you can’t escape. The best example that best describes URL spoofing is an email in which you are offered an irresistible discount or a massive inheritance.
Link spoofing is very common in today’s world, and many people are being scammed every day with URL spoofing in their daily lives.
Where are spoofed URLs found?
Now as we have already told you, what is URL spoofing meaning? You should know where the spoofed links are found and how you should be aware of link spoofing in your daily life.
As mentioned above, link spoofing is spread through phishing attacks, emails, and text messages, as malicious links need online traffic. Emails allow hackers to send spoofed links to the masses while using other tactics to make them more irresistible.
The cybercrime rate has risen sky-high due to URL spoofing because those links can be purchased from different platforms for various link spoofing platforms. Likewise, these links are spread through text messages in the same manner and can be sent to a massive group of people simultaneously.
The only problem is it is a bit difficult to get that many phone numbers unless a hacker takes control of the text message system of a phone company through a bug and uses it to his advantage.
An incident like this happened to organizations in the past where a hacker got hold of the entire system through an unpatched security flaw that allowed the hacker to modify an app download link that users already expected on the sign-in page.
The last thing you need to be aware of for URL spoofing is social media. It is effortless for hackers to send these spoofed URLs by masking themselves as sales promotions and potential dating match.
The direct message approach on social media is impractical because it must look genuine. For that, the hacker needs to make a social media page separately, which can be difficult and expensive in most cases and can quickly be reported as spam.
However, if not flagged, many spoofed links can appear as sponsored content on platforms like YouTube, which is the easiest way to target users through social media platforms. Moreover, many online scammers hack existing accounts and then use them to convince your friends and family to open links or transfer money.
How to Recognize a Spoofed Link
- Before you click on any links, hover over them with your mouse to see the URL.
- Look for spelling mistakes as well as accents, glyphs, or diacritics. Otherwise, you might become a victim of URL hijacking.
- If the URL seems correct, but the deal sounds too good to be true, it might still be a phishing attack. Enter the official company’s URL into your address bar and check if they offer that fantastic deal or use a link checker tool. Email them directly or call them if you want to be super cautious. Never reply to the email you received!
- If you click on a seemingly legitimate link and the website looks just like a trusted source, you should still check whether it’s an HTTPS website. If not – leave immediately.
- Take precautionary steps – update your web browser and your antivirus. They can usually block malicious content even if you click on it. An excellent tool for this is OysterVPN’s Threat Protection Pro feature. It helps identify malware-ridden files, stops you from landing on malicious websites and spoofed links, and blocks ads. Threat Protection Pro also has a handy URL trimmer that helps protect your privacy by removing tracking parameters many websites add to URL links.
- Hackers will continue using spoofed links to trick you into thinking they are well-known e-commerce platforms like eBay or PayPal. Keep an eye out for news about the latest scams and attacks.
Examples of the Most Common URL Spoofing Attacks
Online scammers have various ways of creating spoofed links and use them for phishing attacks. The four most common types of URL spoofing are listed here.
Links Behind Buttons or Words
The oldest trick of hackers is to send a spam email or text message to users pretending to be a legitimate source, announcing that you have won a lottery or gotten a considerable discount on shopping from a specific online platform, hyperlinking the spoofed link to words, always hover the mouse over hyperlinked words to see the URL.
Similarly, you might receive an email from a known tour company offering you a significantly cheap trip to your favorite destination, stating that all you need to do is click the link. Clicking that link redirects to a malicious website, installing Trojan or other viruses on your device.
Misspelled Links
People often tend to speed-read messages, which enables online scammers to send phishing emails with spoofed links designed like a trusted source. It’s not hard for scammers as they only need to change one character or register a new domain.
For example, consider receiving a spam email from a trusted airline asking you to confirm your payment details against your ticket purchase. When you hover the mouse over the link, you will see a link similar to the airline link, but in fact, it is the spoofed link sent by the scammer.
The only difference could be seen if you read the link not and adequately speed read the email because there would be a letter or number different and can only be marked by reading it appropriately.
It doesn’t happen only with spam emails but also through a social engineering attack called typosquatting, which targets internet users who mistype widespread internet domains.
URL Shorteners
Another method of URL spoofing is URL shorteners like t.ly and likewise. Some social media platforms apply character limits on posts or text messages, so short links are excellent for online scammers.
It is easy for scammers to hide spoofed links in these posts to hide spam content. It is difficult to tell where this shortened URL will redirect you once you have clicked it.
Links with Non-Latin Characters
Nowadays, new scripts are used to register domains online, creating even more options for hackers to steal your money and personal information. Now, it is easy to use non-Latin characters to create twin URLs. Spoofed URLs can now use letters with glyphs, accents, and diacritics.
Some letters may look just like their Latin counterparts despite representing a whole new alphabet. The internet will identify them as entirely different characters and allow scammers to register a new domain. These URLs are hard to detect by an everyday internet user.
Avoid URL Spoofing
Thanks to the technology advancement today, there are many ways to identify a spoofed link than to hide it. Today’s reality is that URL spoofing malicious links can slip through many security checks online and compromise your device and sensitive information.
Thus, it is essential only to open links from trusted sources, and even you must be vigilant if you suspect those sources are being compromised in any way possible. So, always think before you click a suspicious link.
Following are some precautions that can show you how to avoid URL spoofing.
Always Hover Over Links Before You Click
it is commonly known that hovering over a link or words for a second or two reveals the full link description near your mouse cursor. Read the link thoroughly to ensure that nothing is hidden or changed in that link. Also, don’t open attachments from suspicious sources, even if they look like pictures or text files.
Make Sure the Link is HTTPS
HTTPS links have a transport layer security certificate and use encryption to send and receive data packets between the user and the website, while HTTP websites do not have that security certificate, which makes them vulnerable.
Never use an HTTP website; if you are on one of them through redirect links, immediately close the website and leave the page to secure your device and information.
Ask Yourself If the Deal is Feasible
Regrettably, many selling platforms don’t often inform their users about different offers on sale, making them a target for scammers for link spoofing. For example, you get a spam email or text message regarding a perfume available on a specific platform at such an unimaginable price that it’s hard to resist buying.
Always verify it by going to the source in another tab to ensure the offer is genuine or a phishing attack to ensure your cyber security.
Stay Informed on the Latest News
Some URL spoofing attacks are massive to be reported by s. If you think something is wrong with a piece of news, check it with some other trusted news sources to confirm that it is accurate so that you won’t be a victim of a URL spoofing attack.
Update Your Browser Regularly
Keep in mind that websites aren’t solely responsible for your cyber security. You also have a part to play in the fight to keep yourself secure. Many browsers do most of the work and warn you to turn back from suspicious websites before entering them by giving you a security warning.
The browsers also provide various new updates with improved security protocols that you should update regularly.
Bookmark Your Most Frequently Used Websites
Bookmarks are often used to revisit the websites you need daily like banking, work-related, and educational websites. So, never use any of those websites in emails or texts to redirect those websites.
Conclusion
We hope our article gives you all the information that best describes URL spoofing in all aspects, covering all the possible ways of URL spoofing and how to avoid it in your everyday life. We also discuss what is the actual URL spoofing meaning.
To ensure maximum cyber security, always be vigilant for URL spoofing and do not go to unreliable platforms or click on suspicious links to save a few bucks. Always check if an offer is legitimate before clicking the link to stay safe from spoofing.
