Categories » ‘phishing’Adwords phishing – Now the Russians are at it!November 6th, 2008 by PeteAs almost everybody knows there’s been some unscrupulous use of Chinese domains (.cn) to try to scam AdWords users and we’ve reported on this previously. I know that numerous people have been caught out ! Yesterday with, Teri’s help I encountered my first Russian phishing attack, then lo and behold one pops into my inbox this morning so they are out there…
*Warning* AdWords ‘phishing’ continuesJune 18th, 2008 by PetePlease be aware that I’m still regularly hearing reports of people who have received AdWords ‘phishing’ emails. These appear to be genuine communications from Google asking you to renew your AdWords account or update your AdWords payment details, but are in fact scams cleverly designed to steal your credit card details. You can identify the bogus emails by carefully rolling your mouse over the link in the email to view the popup tooltip; then carefully examine the domain details. The phishing emails typically link to a Chinese domain which is dot cn (i.e. .cn) rather than the domain it appears to be. Please be vigilant and under no circumstances enter your credit card details. If you do, then contact your bank immediately to freeze your credit card. If you receive a phishing email, forward it to phishing@google.com so the folks at Google can do something about stopping these thieves. If you are in doubt about your AdWords account’s status you can check it online. Once your AdWords account is established, the only time you should have to re-enter payment details is when your credit card expires. If in doubt, don’t click. *Warning* AdWords payment details phishingMarch 31st, 2008 by PeteA client fortunately queried this email with me and my trusty McAfee virus protection software flagged it as ‘phishing’. It is a scam email cloaked as a Google AdWords payment alert trying to steal your credit card details. The email link to update your payment details actually goes to a Chinese site and not Google: http://adwords.google.com.r4oik.cn/select/Login/ There has been some other recent reports of similar phishing scams on the Search Engine Round Table blog. The email certainly looks legitimate and so anyone could be easily decieved. I strongly recommend that you ensure your internet security software is up to date and capable of detecting ‘phishing’ emails. After contacting Google AdWords support they asked that phishing emails be forwarded to phishing@google.com 5 April Update More phishing emails relating to Adwords Dear AdWords Customer, As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the Google AdWords programme for advertisers and users, Please review the new Terms and Conditions below, then indicate your acceptance. Yes, I accept the Terms and Conditions. <– this link leads to a Chinese site not to Google Adwords |
