Don’t develop an unnatural fear of external links. After all, that’s how the Internet works.
The key learning here is DO NOT reveal your login info to anyone. The only place you enter them is on Steemit and type in the Steemit URL yourself.
And when I put a link in any of my posts, I leave it naked. You know where you are going when you click it.
RE: How To Prevent Losing Your Account to Basic, Advanced and Smart Phishers: