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How to check if a website is safe: links, shops and QR codes
A checklist and free tools to vet links, online shops and QR codes before you click or pay, based on guidance from the FTC, the UK NCSC and Brazil's NIC.br.
Holiday shopping season brings fake stores, promo links and tampered QR codes. No tool can guarantee a site is safe, but a two-minute check removes most traps. Here are objective criteria and free or official tools.
How can I tell if a link is fake?
- Read the real domain, the part right before the first slash. In brand.com.deals-xyz.com, the site is deals-xyz.com.
- Look for swapped letters and extra hyphens.
- A padlock is not proof of honesty; it only means the connection is encrypted.
- When in doubt, type the official address or use the company app.
Which free tools help?
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Google Transparency Report site status | Shows whether Google Safe Browsing flags a URL as dangerous |
| Domain registration lookup (WHOIS / Registro.br for .br) | Shows how old a domain is; a two-week-old shop with huge discounts is a red flag |
| Company registry and complaint sites | Confirm the business exists and how it treats customers |
How do I vet an online shop?
Brazil's NIC.br shopping guide recommends checking the company name and registration number, real contact channels, reviews, prices far below market, a clear privacy policy, and paying with a virtual credit card instead of instant transfers. See fake online store scams.
How do I check a QR code?
In September 2026 the FTC warned about fake QR stickers placed over real ones on parking meters. Read the link preview before opening, be wary of unexpected codes in emails, texts or packages, keep your phone updated and use MFA. More in quishing.
I clicked a suspicious link. Now what?
- Close the page; change any password you entered, everywhere you reused it.
- Call your bank if you shared card data and watch your statements.
- Report it: in the US at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; in the UK through the NCSC scam website form, which works with hosts to remove malicious sites.
Why is paying by card safer than instant transfers?
Credit cards allow chargebacks, while an instant payment such as Brazil's Pix sent to a scammer depends on recovery mechanisms that return only a small share of losses, as shown in Pix fraud in numbers. The same logic applies to wire transfers, gift cards and crypto in the US and Europe: once sent, money is hard to recover.
Two-minute checklist
- Type the official address instead of clicking.
- Check the domain age, company registration and contact channels.
- Look up the site status in Google's Transparency Report.
- Be suspicious of prices far below market and countdown timers.
- Pay with a virtual credit card.
- Before paying a QR code, confirm the recipient name in your banking app.
No single check is conclusive. A new domain, a price far below market and a request to pay only by instant transfer together form the most common pattern behind fake stores, so combine at least two checks before buying.
Fuente
- NIC.br – Internet com Responsa: Vai às Compras (2ª ed.)
- FTC – See a QR code parked somewhere? Don't scan it…yet! (03/09/2026)
- FTC – Scammers hide harmful links in QR codes to steal your information (2023)
- NCSC (UK) – Report a scam website
- Google – Transparency Report: Safe Browsing