Back to catalogue
5 min · Module

Reading a URL: is this site real?

Decoding web addresses to spot fakes — in 90 seconds.

Read from the middle

Scammers love URLs that LOOK legitimate. The trick is to read from the middle: find the rightmost dot before the first single slash, then look at the word(s) just before it.

Real: https://www.gov.uk/student-finance — domain is gov.uk ✅ Fake: https://gov.uk.login-secure.com — domain is login-secure.com ❌ Fake: https://www.gov-uk.com/login — domain is gov-uk.com (a different company) ❌

When in doubt, type the address yourself rather than clicking.

Done reading?

Ready to test what you've learned

When you mark this module as finished, the assessment unlocks after a short delay (60 min) so the material can settle into longer-term memory.

Scroll to the end of the module to enable the finish button.

EANE

EANE delivers bite-sized, expert-curated training in practical skills — community, inclusion, social economy, and everyday European life. Free to learn. Verifiable across Europe.

© 2026 EUROPEAN ACADEMY for NANO EDUCATION · eane.eu
Powered by EurAV CLG, Ireland