Check Before Clicking on That Email Link!

There's been a spate of emails recently that seem to be flying under the spam filter radar screen. They purport to be an eCard from "a friend. Click on the link in the email and you'll see the card!" It's tempting - but be careful. It might be legitimate, but here's a tip for checking the link:

1. If there is an IP address in the link - if there are numbers to the right of the http://, like http://123.234.56.78/ - instead of a domain name - like www.hallmark.com, DO NOT CLICK!!
2. If it says "Click here" and you can't see what the address is, try putting your cursor over the link. The address may appear right under your cursor, or it might appear in the bottom left corner of your browser window if you are using webmail. If the address contains an IP address (like above) or if the domain name is something that you don't recognize, DO NOT CLICK!
3. If you can't get the address to pop up by hovering your cursor on it, you can right click on the email, then choose "View Source" and find the address of the link that way. But chances are, if the sender has taken the time to camouflage the link to that extent, it's not a place where you want to go. So DO NOT CLICK!

Use this technique before clicking on any email link. If the site doesn't "spell out" its address, or if the domain name is not the same as the company it claims to be, don't click. Here are some more examples:

http://paypal.otherdomain.com
http://www.otherdomain.com/paypal

These appear to have "paypal" in the domain name, but the only important thing to look for is what is immediately in front of the ".com". And if it's not "paypal", then the address does not belong to PayPal.