How to Expand Shortened URL's and Avoid Viruses and Scams

How to Expand Shortened URL's and Avoid Viruses and Scams

Have you ever noticed how most pickpockets hang out in busy urban areas? Well our Social Networks are the new urban areas, with scam artists lurking around every corner waiting to catch you distracted so they can rip you off. If you are savvy about your privacy online you can avoid a lot of these headaches. But for real estate agents and other professionals who rely on building new relationships we often have a tough time ignoring the scam artists because we fear we may be losing a possible lead. Sure, that mindset is a recipe for disaster, but that is a topic for another day.

For now we'll focus on how to determine if you should follow the link that someone just sent you, or if you should avoid it like the plague. If you're on Twitter you are probably familiar with strange URL's that look like jibberish. There are a number of services available to shorten your URLs for linking on Twitter, like bit.ly, tinyurl, and now even ActiveRain will shorten your blog post URL. Here is an example from my Twitter page of a shortened URL:

This was an automated tweet, generated by my Facebook page wall. The Facebook application for Twitter automatically shortens the link URL so you end up with the link above, http://fb.me/QNY8vtys . Now, if you are already a fan of my Facebook page or a follower of my Twitter page you probably wouldn't worry much about following the link. But if that same URL came to you in a direct message or an @mention from someone you don't really know, or just in the results of your search on Twitter then you might be hesitant to follow it.

Follow the wrong link and you can open yourself up to the worst scam artists the internet has to offer. Do yourself (and your computer) a favor and take steps to protect yourself from these malicious attacks disguised as harmless shortened URL's. Next time you are unsure about a shortened URL, try out a free service from LongURL.org . Just type or paste in the shortened URL, click expand, and see what that link is really all about.

You'll be able to see the full URL, the page title, site redirects, meta description, content type, and in some cases a screenshot. So the next time someone posts that irresistible message saying "hey Mike, is this really you in this video?" you can find out if the link will lead you to a good laugh or a nightmare of identity theft!