Bank of America, Netflix and Apple Customers Targeted by Widescale Google Search Scams: Report

Cybercriminals are reportedly engineering fraudulent search results to trick unsuspecting victims seeking tech support assistance.

Jérôme Segura, the senior director of research at the antivirus firm Malwarebytes, says the criminals use sponsored search results on Google to trick people looking for 24/7 support for Apple, Bank of America, Facebook, HP, Microsoft, Netflix and PayPal.

The fake advertisements take people to copycat websites that imitate the sites of those big brands mentioned above. Instead of posting a real tech support phone number, the sites direct people to call scam numbers, Segura explains.

“The browser address bar will show that of the legitimate site, and so there’s no reason for suspicion. However, the information the visitor sees will be misleading, because the search results have been poisoned to display the scammer’s number prominently in what looks like an official search result.

Once the number is called, the scammers will pose as the brand with the aim of getting their victim to hand over personal data or card details, or even allow remote access to their computer. In the case of Bank of America or PayPal, the scammers want access to their victim’s financial account so they can empty it of money.”

Segura warns that people seeking tech support online should be aware of various scam warning signs, like a phone number in the URL and encoded characters like the %20 (space) and %2B (+ sign), along with phone numbers.

The malware researcher also says people should look out for websites that display urgent language like “Call Now,” “Account suspended,” and “Emergency support,” as well as similarly urgent language in the address bar of the browser.

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