Whenever I see a post or reply on a forum containing a shortened URL I know there is something phishy as there is no need to use URL shortener when posting on a forum unlike when writing a message on Twitter where the number of characters is limited to 280.
On top of all that, I tend to check all links with VirusTotal (mind you it will not catch them all), turning that into a habit.
Another scanner:
https://www.urlvoid.com/It is always a good practice to use more than one scanner.