When to use this

Use this when user-generated content includes URLs that can lead other users off-platform.

How Verifence evaluates it

URL scanning is a reputation decision, not a visual inspection of the destination page. Verifence canonicalizes the link, checks its own reviewed bad-URL data, and queries Google Web Risk so known phishing and malware destinations can be stopped before someone clicks or publishes them.

Canonical matching

Equivalent forms of a URL are normalized so differences such as protocol, case, or a trailing slash do not bypass an existing bad-URL record.

Verifence threat data

Links are checked against URLs that have been reviewed and activated in the Verifence bad-URL database.

Google Web Risk

The scanner checks Google Web Risk and treats a confirmed reputation hit as a bad URL.

Batch processing

The web tool accepts pasted URLs or CSV and Excel files, queues the work in batches, and tracks safe and bad totals as processing completes.

How to do it

  1. 01 Extract HTTP and HTTPS links from the submitted comment, listing, profile, ticket, or message on the server.
  2. 02 Normalize and deduplicate the links, then send each one to /api/scan/url before the content is made public.
  3. 03 Reject or strip known bad links and dispatch the configured webhook workflow when a threat is detected.
  4. 04 Hold the parent submission for review when the link context is suspicious even though reputation sources are currently clean.
  5. 05 Save the scan time and decision with the content so moderators know when the link was last checked.

How to act on the result

Allow

No configured reputation source identified the URL as malicious at scan time.

Block

A Verifence blacklist or Google Web Risk hit identifies the URL as unsafe.

Review

Use manual review when context remains suspicious even though current reputation sources return no hit.

Rescan

Threat reputation changes. Rescan important or newly reported links before a later high-risk action.

Implementation notes

  • Each URL scan costs 5 credits. The web batch tool accepts up to 500 valid URLs per submission.
  • The API requires an HTTP or HTTPS URL, with a maximum length of 2,048 characters, and returns a simple safe/bad decision.
  • A clean result means no current reputation hit was found; it is not a permanent guarantee about future destination content.