Is This Download Site Real? Official Site Checker

Short answer: paste a download link or a site name below. The checker tells you whether it is the official site we list for that program, a domain that a security vendor or the publisher has reported as an impostor, a site that borrows a program’s name without being its official home, or a site we don’t have data on. The checker compares the pasted value in your browser without requesting that site. GA4 analytics and Clarity session replay are disabled on this page; do not put private links or credentials in the address bar. A matching host does not verify a URL path, redirects, or the downloaded file.

Check a download site

The pasted value is compared locally; the checker does not request that site. Use public links only. A host match does not verify the path, redirects or file.

What the four results mean

  • Reported impostor. A cited source has reported this exact host (with or without www), as fake, unofficial or malicious. Read the source date and classification. This is historical evidence, not a live malware scan. Each result links to the report.
  • Official. The exact host matches a publisher host in our list (with or without www). Other subdomains need their own entry. This is not a safety verdict. You still need the right file: compare its SHA-256 with the publisher’s value using our SHA-256 checker.
  • Name-similarity hint. The host is not verified in our official-host list and resembles a listed name. This is not evidence that it is unofficial or malicious. A legitimate subdomain may need its own listing. Use the publisher’s linked download source.
  • Not in our list. We have no data on the domain. That is not a verdict. Start from the project’s repository or its Wikipedia article and follow the download link from there.

How fake download sites reach people

Most of the domains below were found in three patterns that keep repeating:

  • Search ads above the real result. Rapid7 documented typosquatted PuTTY and WinSCP domains bought as search ads in 2024, and Zscaler reported the same tactic with Advanced IP Scanner look-alikes.
  • Look-alike spellings. One missing or doubled letter (puttty.org, wnscp.net), a different ending (win-rar.co, filezilla-project.live) or no hyphen (7zip.com instead of 7-zip.org).
  • Letters from other alphabets. Malwarebytes described a KeePass ad that led to ķeepass.info, which looks right in the address bar but is a different domain (xn--eepass-vbb.info). The checker converts these automatically, so paste the link exactly as you see it.

The safest habit is the same for every program: find the publisher first, then the download. Our guide to fake download sites walks through it step by step.

Reported impostor domains

Every domain here is named by the source linked next to it. We don’t visit these sites to confirm them, and we list them as plain text so nobody clicks through by accident. Some entries are phishing mail or store-scam domains rather than download pages; the note says so.

7-Zip

Official: 7-zip.org

  • 7zip.com · Reported malicious · 2026-02-09 · Malwarebytes

Advanced IP Scanner

Official: advanced-ip-scanner.com

AnyDesk

Official: anydesk.com

Audacity

Official: audacityteam.org

Bambu Lab

Official: bambulab.com, store.bambulab.com

Bitwarden

Official: bitwarden.com, vault.bitwarden.com

Blender

Official: blender.org

Brave

Official: brave.com

ChatGPT desktop

Official: openai.com, chatgpt.com

Claude desktop

Official: claude.ai, claude.com, anthropic.com

CPU-Z (CPUID)

Official: cpuid.com

DeepSeek

Official: deepseek.com

DeepSeek / Ollama / LM Studio

Official: deepseek.com, ollama.com, lmstudio.ai

  • deepseek-platform.com · Reported malicious · 2025-06 · Kaspersky

FileZilla

Official: filezilla-project.org

  • filezilla-project.live · Reported malicious · 2026-03-02 · Malwarebytes

GIMP

Official: gimp.org

HandBrake

Official: handbrake.fr

  • handbrake.biz · Reported malicious · 2017-05 · Malwarebytes (Look-alike command server, not a fake download site.)

KeePass

Official: keepass.info

Krita

Official: krita.org

  • krita.app · Reported malicious · 2021-08-23 · Krita Foundation (Phishing email domain.)
  • krita.io · Reported malicious · 2021-08-23 · Krita Foundation (Phishing email domain, not a download site.)

LibreOffice

Official: libreoffice.org

MSI Afterburner

Official: msi.com

Notepad++

Official: notepad-plus-plus.org

  • notepad.plus · Not official (publisher warning) · 2024-04-03 · Notepad++ (Don Ho)
  • notepadxtreme.com · Reported malicious · 2023-10 · Malwarebytes

OBS Studio

Official: obsproject.com

OrcaSlicer

Official: orcaslicer.com, github.com/OrcaSlicer/OrcaSlicer

PuTTY

Official: chiark.greenend.org.uk

Signal (Android)

Official: signal.org

  • signalplus.org · Reported malicious · 2023-08-30 · ESET WeLiveSecurity (Android, not desktop.)

Telegram (Android)

Official: telegram.org

Telegram Desktop

Official: telegram.org, desktop.telegram.org

VLC media player

Official: videolan.org

WinRAR

Official: win-rar.com, rarlab.com

WinSCP

Official: winscp.net

Zoom

Official: zoom.us

  • us06webzoomus.pro · Reported malicious · 2024-03 · The Hacker News (Zscaler ThreatLabz research)
  • zoom-download.fun · Reported malicious · 2022-09-19 · Cyble
  • zoom-download.host · Reported malicious · 2022-09-19 · Cyble
  • zoom-download.space · Reported malicious · 2022-09-19 · Cyble
  • zoomus.host · Reported malicious · 2022-09-19 · Cyble
  • zoomus.tech · Reported malicious · 2022-09-19 · Cyble
  • zoomus.website · Reported malicious · 2022-09-19 · Cyble

Use the data

Versioned companion data, including publisher domains and SHA-256 values, is published under CC BY 4.0 on GitHub: Official Download Sources. The repository also includes PowerShell scripts under the MIT licence. Check the release, source dates and documented limits before using them; a repository snapshot may differ from the current catalogue and this web checker.

Report a fake site or a mistake

Found a fake download site, or think a listing is wrong? Send the domain and a public source through the contact page, or open an issue on GitHub. Listings are removed when the cited source is withdrawn or corrected.