Reading a web address to see whose site you are on
Look at a web address and say which company it belongs to.
Every web address has a name in it that says who owns the page. Once you know where to look, you can find it in about two seconds.
Look at the address bar: across the top of the browser on a computer, and often at the bottom on an iPhone. Find the two slashes near the start. Then read forward until the very next slash. That chunk is the site name.
In the chunk, the part that matters is the last two words before the first slash. In www.chase.com/login, that is chase.com. Chase owns it.
Tricks hide in the front. A page at chase.com.secure-alerts.net is not Chase. The last two words are secure-alerts.net, so a stranger owns it.
Key points
- The address bar is across the top on a computer, often at the bottom on an iPhone.
- Read from the slashes to the first single slash.
- The last two words of that chunk name the owner.
- Words placed in front prove nothing at all.
- Read the address before typing any password.
What to remember
- Before typing a password, read the address bar first.
- Real government sites end in gov. A gov in the middle of an address means nothing.
- When in doubt, close the email and type the store name into a search yourself.
Try this
Open your bank or your email in a browser, look at the address bar, and say out loud the two words that name the owner.
Practice: Reading a web address to see whose site you are on. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.