Re: [LUG] 20180920 OT. (perhaps?) Help please. To understand why URLs differ and domains change in loading smartphone apps.

["M. J. Everitt" <m.j.everitt@xxxxxxx>]

Probably their third-party online-banking/mobile-banking provider .. its
sad these companies don't think these through before blindly telling
users 'do this' ...

You're right to be suspicious, but I suspect this is legit, and you'll
struggle to find anyone technical enough chez bank to tell you this,
because they simply don't know. Kinda bullshit I think, but hey ..
welcome to the 21st century ..

Good luck!

MJE

On 20/09/18 15:28, Eion MacDonald wrote:
> To DC Lug, slightly OT
> Dear Folk,
> 20180920 Help please. To understand why URLs differ and domains change
> in loading smartphone apps.
>  Bank apps on mobile phones or laptop OSes. Can you explain and help me
> understand.
>
> I tutor some folk at local library, one person, learning computing on
> library PC, who has a ‘smartphone’ as her only computing device. [I have
> no experience on a smartphone as I do not use one.].
>
>  Problem arose when she was told by her bank to download its app and
> they sent an email to her.  She showed me the email.
> I could not decipher the actual email originator  as only the bank logo
> shown as as sender  [RBS].  However in the email they advised her to go
> to  a specific URL which was *not* a bank domain.  I assumed a scam and
> asked her to delete, as it is always possible for her to go to bank in
> person to get help or have email resent.
>
>   I later investigated the bank site from OpenSUSE on my own machine.
>  The ‘click through’ to get a mobile bank app opens (very rapidly and
> closes) as  an “.me” domain then goes to a URL “app.bank.co.uk” site.
> It was the “.me”   domain that caused me problems with believing the
> email from the bank .
> The “.me” domain in Ireland, seems to be third party server doing what?
>
> Can anyone advise how these work?
>
> Data:
> Bank is Royal Bank of Scotland
> Wanted: load bank’s mobile app to smartphone.
>
> Email to her said download from:
> Quote http.//   m.onelink.me     /d3ka1abe Unquote (spaces inserted to
> avoid hyperlink)
>
> Why a domain “.me”  for a bank?
> My Checking on RBS site from openSUSE gave a rapid opening and closing
> of a “.me”  link to arrive at at a  rbs.co.uk domain where it offered
> four apps   one each for Android, Windows, iPad-Iphone ,and the old
> Canadian OS.
>
> Thus the “.me” seems to get to correct destination to download an app,
> but why is this not directly on the RBS website, and why RBS showed her
> the “.me” URL.
>
> Sites found:
> RBS mobile app website to download is given by a click through button
> (hiding the ".me" link).
>
> RBS click through  goes to (blanks inserted)
>
> https://   go.onelink   .me
> /834F?pid=Brochureware&c=R_GTA_Int_Mob_RBT12018_CTA1_a1&af_dp=None&af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fapplink.rbs.co.uk?intcam=R_GTA_Int_Mob_RBT12018_CTA1_a1
>
> Following gets to:
>
> https://     applink.rbs.   co.uk  /text-mobile-application/traffic/8406502
>
>
> From another place on RBS website to get a mobile bank app the click
> through is.
> https://   go.onelink.
> me/834F?pid=Brochureware&c=R_GTA_Int_Mob_DABROCHURE0418_DEMO_a2&af_dp=None&af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fapplink.rbs.co.uk?intcam=R_GTA_Int_Mob_DABROCHURE0418_DEM
>
>
> Can you explain why bank does not redirect  to bank site as opposed to a
> “.me” site?
>
> Trying to get data on “onelink.me” presents warnings due their site
> insecurity  by different search engines and Mozilla Firefox.
>
> What do I need to know, that at present I do not know?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Eion MacDonald.
>

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