What I have learned is that you should not blindly rely on links but rather type the addresses on the address bar and double check for typos before clicking Enter. If you end up on a fake site after these precautions, your computer security has already failed.
That said, the links I posted are those I use. I did a Google search for DDU because I never can remember the exact address for WagnardSoft. For Nvidia I simply typed
www.nvidia.com because I know it's the right address for them. As you know, this kind of forums allow for adding hyperlinks to
any kind of phrases including
www.thisverythread.omg. If in doubt, right click the link, Copy Link Location and paste it somewhere where you can read the true address it links to. If it looks fishy, it might well be.
I've had my share of fake e-mails claiming to be from my ISP, bank or whatever. Some are very easy to identify since the returning address is something like john.smith@company.com. Some have taken a step further by using addresses like yourbank@gmail.com. Common sense should tell that no big bank or ISP or other major company would ever use any free e-mail for their support messages. But we all are human, even those who know better are prone to make errors when tired, busy, stressed etc.
I know what you mean by downloading potential malware. It has happened a few times that I've clicked a wrong "Download" button on an add loaded site. It pays to read the name of the file to be downloaded and re-read it before starting the installing procedure.
