If in doubt – don’t
I had the following email from a friend.
This friend is big in the Truth movement – so ‘persuasion’ is strong in his agenda. He also collects, distributes and televises independent ‘truth’ videos. So it’s all reasonable, and because of the friendship I’m tempted to view.
But…
He doesn’t usually SHOUT. He invariably says ‘hello’ and ‘how are you’ – and we haven’t spoken since before the holidays. His grammar is usually a bit better, and a belated ‘happy new year’ would be typical.
So I had a niggle. Rather than checking the video I checked the sender.
Hi Friend
Happy new year! Can you confirm you sent me this?
If you did, I’ll have a gander. If you didn’t, you’ve been hacked…
Within half an hour I got a reply:
Happy new year.
I’ve been hacked!
The link in the email is redirected here, by the way. I didn’t, and wouldn’t recommend, going any further. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend going this far…
The moral to this tale is simple: Look before you Link.