Whag Verified Link App Launches to Protect Consumers from Online Scams

The FBI estimates that over the last five years, more than $12 billion has been stolen due to phishing and business email compromise (BEC) scams. Whag’s Verified Link App adds a much-needed layer of proactive security to fight the billions of phishing links sent every day and prevent the resulting financial loss. 

Phishing is a common tactic used by criminals to steal personal information, identities, and money. Clicking on phishing links can lead to data breaches, financial loss, and reputational damage for businesses and individuals. These attacks are expensive, hard to come back from, and difficult to detect – according to Intel Security, 97 percent of people are unable to correctly identify a phishing link or email. 

To help alleviate the problem and make it easier for users to correctly identify trustworthy links, the Whag team created the Whag Safe Stop. When an end-user clicks on a Whag Verified Link, they are taken to a Whag Safe Stop before being automatically redirected to their online destination. These Safe Stops tell the link clicker who created the link they’ve clicked on and let them know that it’s safe to proceed.

Unlike legacy link shorteners which don’t offer any safeguards and are often abused by bad actors, Whag Verified Links can only be created by verified users. Every link created with Whag’s Verified Link platform must also pass through Whag’s link security checklist before being verified and shared.

“If you google ‘phishing scam,’ a new story pops up every few hours. These attacks are relentless, everyone’s a target, and most don’t appreciate the severity of the threat until it is too late,” said Whag co-founder and CEO Sebastian Ornstein. “Whag Verified Links protect stakeholders and end-users before threats arise rather than after attacks are uncovered. This is more than just another malware blocker - it is a proactive solution. Whag is a living, breathing security network and as the network grows, it becomes more efficient and more capable of preventing malicious links from compromising communities across the web."

Whag’s proprietary technology runs every URL against the Whag Blocklist before enabling the creation of a shortened link. Additionally, a Chrome extension is coming soon which will prevent users from accessing the links on the Whag Blocklist. Because Whag’s community can identify and report malicious links, the Blocklist is constantly growing and evolving.

“We looked at the market and realized most anti-phishing solutions were made for enterprise clients only,” said Cody Robertson, Whag’s co-founder and Design Director. “We wanted Whag to be accessible, we wanted it to be something everyone could use and benefit from. Accessibility and community are two core aspects of our platform - the way our Blocklist works is proof of that. Phishing doesn’t discriminate and everyone is a target, so our solution should be available to everyone too. It should be and it is.”

For more information about using Whag for online security and protection from scams, visit https://app.whag.me/whag/whag-home-page or follow @whag_app for the latest updates.