Story:
This is the message spreading in various forms on Facebook, advising users never to click bit.ly links as all of them are spam and lead to viruses, hacking applications and malicious websites.
Analysis:
Such kind of inaccurate and misleading messages are widely circulating on social networking sites like Facebook. The messages claim that all the bit.ly links are spam and scams that lead to viruses, hacking applications and malicious websites, and therefore they should never be clicked.
However, these messages are simply hoaxes. Bitly is a safe, legitimate and a popular URL shortening service. It is used by very large number of individuals and businesses everyday, throughout the world. It has become so popular because the shortened links are easy to share online, especially on social networks and blogging platforms like Twitter where you have character limit to avoid lengthy URLs. There are large number of legitimate websites using bitly service.
Having said that, there do exist certain spammers and scammers who use bitly links, and any other shortening services to scam and hack users. Such URL shortening services like Bitly offer them attractive features like tracking the number of clickers and other metrics. Because Bitly service is popular, they are sometimes used by scammers to shorten and disguise various malicious and misleading websites. But it is not a fact that all Bitly links are malicious.
You can avoid suspected bit.ly URLs by using the browser extensions for the Firefox and Chrome browsers that Bitly offers. These extensions will allow the users to review the destination of shortened bit.ly links before clicking. And in any case, if you find any malicious activity through bit.ly URL shortening service, it is advised to report it immediately so as to stop further spamming.
Hoax or Fact:
Hoax.
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