Is there a list of frequently used official websites and similar ones used by spammers?

Brendan Burgess

Founder
Messages
54,671
This comment in another thread triggered the idea.

Thanks everyone for yer posts on my N26 ... i was caught out when i went to pay for eir bill online via my laptop and was ask for a verification on my mobile for payment (the eir website was a clever copy ) ... on hindsight i should have been more careful ... but like everyone my work load goes crazy certain weeks in the year .

Something like the following where people could check at a glance.

1734114055141.png
 
Lists such as this may appear to be a good idea but are out of date moments after are created and are probably more of a danger than a help.

Using something dynamic makes more sense, e.g. https://www.getsafeonline.org/checkawebsite/

It also helps if you have an understanding of how domain names and URLs are constructed and work in the context of a browser, e.g

www.tesco.com or www.tesco.co.uk or www.tesco.ie all look ok, with or without the www. These are often referred to as primary or main domains (terminology here is all over the place so apologies in advance if this rubs anyone up the wrong way)

realfood.tesco.com is a subdomain and is fine - the “.tesco.com” part is intact and traffic goes to Tesco

Avoid anything that looks like tesco2u.com, tesco2you.co.uk, tescojersey.com, tescodvd.co.uk, tescodiet.com, tescodiet.co.uk, tesco-diet.co.uk.

Also unfamiliar endings (e.g. tesco.za or tesco.ug or tesco.cn or tesco.ru) are best avoided unless you are shopping in South Africa or Uganda or China or Russia.

Typing the domain name/URL* is safer than clicking on a link. Copy and pasting it is somewhere in the middle.

HTTPS:// at the start is a lot safer than HTTP:// (The “S” stands for secure)

Spoofing: Someone sends you a link that looks innocent such as www.tesco.com, but when you click on it it takes you to http://www.tesco-give-me-your-money.com (www.tesco-give-me-your-money.com) - you need to be distrustful of links contained in emails and message and watch carefully where they take you once clicked on.

*URL or Universal Resource Locator is a path to a specific page or object, e.g. www.tesco.com
 
What is a worry is that scammers are now using Https addresses. Recent one I got (for an electricity rebate) was pointing me to a https:/gov.services address and the text started with Gov.ie

In general, if the test message comes in from a mobile number, I ignore it and block it.

Unless I'm bored, I don't engage with scammers and never answer the phone with my name anymore.
 
My point is that most people don't follow these logical steps.

Which is why a list would be useful as well.

Brendan
 
What is a worry is that scammers are now using Https addresses.
The days of trusting the padlock are long gone I'm afraid. Spammers have been increasingly using SSL since it was launched, reaching 60% in 2019, now more than 90% of phishing sites use SSL.
 
Back
Top