I recently got a very official looking email from my bank with a link to fix a security problem. When I hovered over the address in the link (not pressed on it) I was that the address was not quite right. It was close but the suffix was for a foreign country. I deleted the email. A few months ago I got a legitimate email with a similar link. I did not use the link, but I signed into the site and fixed the problem. I also called the company and complained about live links in an email!
If you get an email from a store for example with a link to specials and you get these periodically, these are most likely safe. If you are not certain, hover over the link look at the bottom right (on Chrome others may be in a different position) and read the destination of the link. If you don’t recognize it – don’t follow it.
So, when is it safe to use a link. If you subscribe to a newsletter and it provides links to news stories, offers, or auctions (such as my newsletter), these are generally safe. That is the purpose of the mail and you asked for it. If a friend sends you a link and you requested it or expected it, this is safe. If you get an email with a link and your not sure about it, check that it did come from the friend. I provide both a link and the eBay number in the list below, if you are not comfortable using the links – they are safe, but.. – use the eBay number to search for the item.