What does a phishing link look like?
Sometimes phishing email messages direct you to spoofed websites.
HTML-formatted messages can contain links or forms that you can fill out just as you would fill out a form on a legitimate website.
Phishing links that you are urged to click in email messages, on websites, or even in instant messages, may contain all or part of a real company's name and are usually masked, meaning that the link you see does not take you to that address but somewhere different, usually an illegitimate website.
Notice in the following picture that resting (but not clicking) your mouse pointer on the link reveals the real web address, as shown in the box with the yellow background. The string of cryptic numbers looks nothing like the company's web address. This is a suspicious sign.
Phishing email messages are designed to steal your identity. They ask for personal data, or direct you to websites or phone numbers to call where they ask you to provide personal data. A few clues can help you spot fraudulent email messages or links within them.
Example of a masked web address.
Cybercriminals also use web addresses that resemble the names of well-known companies but are slightly altered by adding, omitting, or transposing letters. For example, the address "www.microsoft.com" could appear instead as:
This is called "typo-squatting" or "cybersquatting."
Criminals can use this information for many different types of fraud, such as to steal money from your account, to open new accounts in your name, or to obtain official documents using your identity.