Now days searching for a information in Google has become super easy which has been of a great help to many. You can simply use some keywords to find the related information on Google but you need to be super careful while doing this as just a single click and you could be a victim of scam. Curious to know how?
Well with the growing development in technology , fraudsters have also developed their skills in order to scam the users. Did you know that scammers can weaponize Google Ads to target it’s customers? Actually it’s quite easy for anyone to buy and run Ads on Google Search for any set of keywords . All they need to do is pick a keyword and pay for it to be on top of the result page. Seems like scammers do the same.
How does the Scammer target the users?
They buy and run ads that show up on top of Google results when a user searches for a specific keyword. A common human behavior which we normally have is to open up to a browser and do a quick search to go the website we want without entering it’s full URL Normally a user will click on the first link returned .
When clicked , these ads redirect users to phishing or fraudulent web pages. Some of these websites redirect to phishing pages. These phishing pages trick users into giving up confidential information such as login credentials , account details , and Personal Identifiable Informations . While other websites might redirect users to elaborate scams like asking them to call a fake customer support number.
This derived information is then used by the scammers to hijack accounts , drain crypto wallets and also use the Personal Identifiable Information on their future victims.
How to actually avoid being in the trap of Scammers?
- Before clicking any link , you must check the browser URL
- You should always check the extension icon
- Always look at the first website and not in the ad as they may mislead you
- You should never share your personal credentials and account details
