The Crash Safari link has now turned into a viral prank, forcing phones to overheat and reboot, which is why those who use the popular web browser should be on the lookout for URLs pointing them to the self-explanatory website.

The link normally appears as crashsafari.com, but may also be disguised using URL shorteners, so before clicking on any small link received from relatives, co-workers, friends or random strangers, it’s best to make sure that you’re not actually being pranked.

The link is particularly harmful when being clicked while using an Apple device, because the Safari browser is the default option for iPhones, iPads or Macs.

What the malicious URL basically does is to automatically create an incredibly lengthy sequence of characters in the address bar, and that string keeps growing and growing and growing.

The browser is obviously unable to load the website in its entirety, but while attempting to process this challenging task it uses so much memory that the device overheats, stops responding, and eventually reboots.

The problem has been identified when using iPhones, and apparently it takes around 20 seconds for the devices to be defeated by the malicious website.

Similar issues are also encountered when clicking the Crash Safari URL while using an iPad. Attempting to load the site on a Mac computer also causes the Safari browser to stop working and require a restart.

Apparently, even Android-powered devices using Chrome as a default browser experience problems when the Crash Safari link is clicked. They quickly heat up and immediately begin to lag, and the vexing symptoms only cease after the user is forced to close the Chrome browser.

In addition, attempting to access the link while running Chrome on a Windows PC, on an Apple Mac desktop or on a laptop also renders the browser unable to process the request, causing it to eventually freeze.

The severity of the issues is generally influenced by the computing power of the device, with some laptops or desktop computers being more liable to get bogged down than others.

Given these dangers, people who use Safari web browsers and even Chrome browsers should be especially vigilant before clicking on any Crash Safari links.

This recommendation also applies to such malicious URLs disguised using Tiny URL, Bitly, Ow.ly, Bit.do, Goo.gl or any other tools that help reduce a link’s length.

Apparently, one such short URL has already been clicked on more than 100,000 times these days. Therefore, it looks like unless caution is exercised, quite a lot of people are now at risk of accessing malicious links of this kind, especially since they’ve become viral on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

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