Google recently informed its users of new advanced online scams threatening to affect millions of people. These scams use lots of persuasion techniques including pretending to be well-known websites or applications hence soliciting private data or going for fake transactions. Another sign Google has provided for abuse is the use of random emojis in the messages.
Laurie Richardson, google’s Vice President of Trust and Safety said that ‘These scams are growing with the assist of international criminal organizations. This means that tricksters are always on the prowl and they switch from one technique to the other using both online and offline approaches.
One out of them is the fake account’s login page or support service site that looks almost identical to the authentic website. Such pages are designed to acquire personal details including login data or monetary scams within a organization. There are also targets employees, for their corporate logins had been hacked to facilitate more disastrous data breaches.
Google also suggests not clicking links that claim to be from a site to prevent visiting a fake site and to always visit the actual site instead. Signs to have suspicion are; where there are use of emojis, wrong spellings or special characters on a site. Google also suggest people to use its ‘About this result’ option to check whether the search results are accurate or not.
This way, the users can minimize their chances of becoming victims of these more and more complex con jobs.
Common Tactics Used by Scammers
Hackers are very strategic and experienced in coming up with fake web addresses that look a lot like the real thing and some known brands. These fake Web pages are primarily created for the purpose of embezzling users’ personal data, or infecting users’ devices with malicious programs, or scamming people into making some unauthorized purchases. This feature makes it easier for the dtox to easily embrace their targets as they do not look anything like dolls.
Another popular tradition is the employment of technical support scam web sites. Hackers operate with fake support service contacts pretending to be genuine to make end users disclose sensitive information or perhaps make payment for fake services. They are becomes something that is more devastating because they deceive users’ trust in big and popular brands.
Phishing domain names and fake login pages are still another favorite weapon of the fraudsters. This type of site recreates the actual page of login and asks for user names and passwords. Cyber criminals steal credentials and victims do not know this until the worst has happened.
Employees are often used as targets in such arrangements. Criminals manage to trick their colleagues into providing them with access to organizational networks. This can lead to violation of the privacy of users, embezzlement of funds and severe blow to an organization.
If a user is aware of these tactics he or she can minimize the risk of becoming a victim in such advanced and complex frauds.
Tips to Stay Safe
To protect oneself against fraudsters do not open any link sent through emails or text messages. These are used by scammers to lead their victims to the intended fake sites with which they intend to fleece them to their last dime.
Never follow redirects to a website or app by clicking on a link that is provided on the browser’s address bar. This in a way guarantees that one is dealing with the original site which in turn minimizes instances of getting fake sites.
It is important to be monitoring for some kinds of clues that would suggest that a particular website is not reliable. These may include, spelling and grammatical mistakes in both the subject and sender’s messages, emojis that don’t make sense, or messages from people not in your contacts list. These are ways of suggesting that it is a scam.
When conducting your research always make sure that you use the right and authorized sources. This precaution will assist in ensuring that you do not end up in front of the fake pages that resemble trusted brands.
According to Google, users should click on the option labelled “About this result” to ensure the site’s authenticity. Located using three dots adjacent to the search results, this option gives more information regarding the source to assist in the decision making process.
