| Red Flag | What to check |
|----------|----------------|
| New account | Created in the last 30 days |
| No history | No other repos or contributions |
| Fake stars | 500+ stars in 1 day, all from empty accounts |
| Weird install command | Piped curl to sudo bash |
| No official docs | The real tool’s site doesn’t link to this repo |
| Binary in repo | Committed .exe, .bin, or obfuscated scripts |
You might wonder, Why would scammers use GitHub instead of a shady website? yape fake github link
The answer lies in reputation. Cybersecurity tools often whitelist GitHub. Antivirus software rarely blocks a direct link to github.com. Scammers exploit this trust. When a victim sees a github.com link, their guard drops. They think, “This is a developer platform; it must be safe.” | Red Flag | What to check |
However, while GitHub is safe, the content uploaded by anonymous users is not automatically vetted by Microsoft (GitHub’s owner). Any scammer can create a free account, upload a ZIP file or a PowerShell script named yape_hack.exe, and share the link. Antivirus software rarely blocks a direct link to github
Check the GitHub profile that created the repository. If it was created 3 days ago, has no profile picture, and this is their only repository—it’s a burner account for phishing.