Reveal Hidden Links Behind Short URL’s

With the increasing use of the Internet, many people are taking advantage to spread malware. One of the way they do it is by shortening the malicious link to hide the real identity of those websites. Not only these they are used by spammers too. Today lets reveal hidden links behind short URL’s.

• Who Shortens Url’s ? 

It ranges from basic internet users to hackers. Bloggers, Internet marketers, spammers, webmasters, hackers and simple internet users shortens URL’s for different purposes [see below paragraph].

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• Why do people shorten URL’s ?

Umm… this can be because of a number of reasons.

Basic Users – Shortened URL’s are easy to share.
Bloggers – Redirecting to another webpage or to make moneyt through Ad.fly etc.
Internet marketers – To increase affiliate sales :P
Spammers – Hide phishing links
Hackers – To Spread malwares (just by visiting a simple link you can be affected).

So to avoid these risks it is essential to reveal hidden links behind short URL’s .
Reveal Hidden Links behind Short Url’s 

Look at this example : 
http://goo.gl/nPDEM

As you can see in the above link, it is impossible to find where it will redirect by just looking into the link. You never know that adwares or various malwares can automatically get installed into your system. And that too by just visiting that link. Or it might turn up as a webpage too. You may be a target. 

There are lots of online tools/services available that help you to expand those shortened URL’s. The added advantage is that you don’t have to install any other software or something like that. Here are some of the “cool” services which will reveal the hidden links behind short url’s.

• LongURL

LongURL stand apart from others. It not only expands the URL but provides other information like screenshot, title etc of the page. Also it help you to find the redirection links (if any). It’s one of reigning websites to expand shortened URL’s and supports a large number of URL shortening sites starting from Adf.ly to is.gd. Just paste the shortened link and click “expand”.

[post_ad] Visit LongURL

• CheckShortURL

CheckShortUrl also shows other necessary details like LongURL. It provides an option to search for those links on popular search engines like Google, Twitter , Bing and Yahoo. Well it supports only the famous URL shorteners like goo.gl , t.co , is.gd etc. It also checks if the website is marked safe on Web of Trust (WOT), Google, Securi etc. This is very helpful.

Visit CheckShortURL 

• Unshorten.it ! 

Yes the name sounds well ! Unshorten.it is a wonderful website well equipped with all the features of the above mentioned. Paste the link and click Expand and it will show you the destination site along with safety ratings from WOT.
Visit Unshorten.it ! 

• LinkPeelr 

LinkPeelr “peels” off the shortened URL and shows you the actual URL. It has two buttons –Peel and Follow. Peel button is used to unshorten the link and Follow button is used to go to the desired website which saves time too. It relatively fast than the others !
Visit LinkPeelr 

• Where Does this Link Go ?

It has the best interface among all the above services. However it will only show the hidden link and nothing else.
Visit WhereDoesThisLinkGo

So next time you wanna visit a short link, be sure to unshorten it ! Comment your views !