can we trust ppl when we ask questions on yahoo answers?

Question

when ppl send u links to goto when u have pc problems how do we know there not a full blown virus when we click on the link

Answer 1

99.5% of the people answering questions here are doing so to help others out. The others of course are only here to have fun and games.
Things to keep in mind when taking the advice of someone is how long they have been contributing, and if others have found their information useful
You can always just paste the links into google to check if the links are safe or not

Answer 2

Actually in the time I spent here I've seen that happen, but only about three times. Twice there was a user that was directing people to download a virus (may have been same person). It was easy for me to spot in his answer. It was something like: "Check this out. I'm sure it'll solve the problem you're having. Anymore problems you can email me at "gave-a-fake-email.com"
-- and gave a DIRECT link to download the "program" (in other words, clicking on the link in his "answer" would bring up the download dialog box). I like to give a link to the site to download a program from (I think others here do too), that way the questioner can evaluate the program her/himself.

Most of time that person's "answer" was obviously irrelevent to the question (I went and looked at all his answers before reporting him), but there were one or two questions where a link to download a program would be appropriate. I kind of hoped no-one fell for it.

There was another time where someone posted a link to a malicious website. That one would be easier to fall for.

There are a couple of things these people do that makes them pretty easy to spot.
1)Their user account (profile) was created that day, often only hours before, just for the purpose of spreading their spam.
2)All their answers will be the same, and often will not be completely relevent to the question.

I'm sure that the other knowledgable people who post here can spot them as well as I can and report them. Oftentimes you'll get the same programs recommended by different people. I think 99% of the people here mean well. Just keep what I wrote here in mind before following links and you shouldn't have any problems!
_

Answer 3

Well its a combination of common sense and trust,
You have to trust the fact that someone answering ur question is trying to help u, or you wouldn't have placed the question in the first place.
Use ur common sense when looking at the links, if the link looks dodgy then don't click it.
Yes they could be sending you to a virus laden site, but if ur Anti-Virus and firewall are upto date (as they should be) then in general u should be ok. If the link is directly to a file then I would probably stick the name of the file into ur favoured search engine, see what it returns, although I would be more likely to go to the main website in the link and try to navigate to it myself rather than use a link.

Answer 4

as you probably know, you should always be really wary about what sort of things you go on and links you try. there are some people that might send you genuin links that work but others may contain viruses. all i can say is before you try them.. google them and make sure they have a solid email that you can ask and make sure it actually works and wont cause more problems for your pc. however, most programmes that you may come across say you have to pay a certain amount of money before they'll fix the problems... dont trust them. you can get a free one that works just as good, dont pay for something you cant be sure that will work as well as it says it will.

Answer 5

Play it safe, don't go there. You can run a search for any url they give you 1st. Say they're sending you to www.abc.com, type abc.com in the search box. Also, about answers, people vote on them, so sometimes you know if they get a thumbs down.

Answer 6

You don't. MORE IMPORTANTLY, you don't know if the advice you get is right or wrong and you can easily get yourself into greater difficulty by following bad advice. I see plenty of wrong advice from perfectly well-intentioned people.

You either have to use your own judgement or wait until the votes are cast and use the collective judgement of others.

Answer 7

Well people can always be dodgy but get a good virus checker, firewall, anti-malware and always read the URL (if the address looks dodgy then don't follow it)

Answer 8

If I look at a link I always do a vrus. spyware and adware scan straight after to be on the safe side.

Answer 9

most people don't think like that, i mean malicously..

if they did they would be reported to YA for sure anyway..

look at it this way , u wanna pay £50 for me to fix the same problem? it's not like people are paying for the help.

sometimes it's down to trusting in human nature and common sense

Answer 10

if not that they could have used the ole tried and actual "chat" reason. even with the undeniable fact that i've got not at all considered the "widely used" bit used previously. possibly she nonetheless has her sphincter in a twist approximately her place as underdog on the detest parade final week.