Tech-Support Scams Prompt Google to Act

This article makes me so heated. It talks about how scam artists advertise on google to make money off of poor unsuspecting people who are seeking technical support with their Apple (or others) products. Scammers pay to have their ads show up when someone uses Google to search things like "Apple technical support." When a victim clicks on this, they are lead to a phone number to call and a link, for example, that is not associated with Apple Inc. at all. They are then directed to an "antivirus hacking specialist" that warns them that their computer has been compromised and that their personal information is now available to hackers, including their personal banking information. The victim is then told that they need to take action as soon as possible and in some cases are told to go to a convenience store to purchase a $100 iTunes gift card, described as an "anti hacking card." Thinking that people fall for this type of scam honestly pains me, but it happens a lot. The point of this article covers the fact that Google Inc. is cracking down on these scamming ads.

"The move comes after a Wall Street Journal investigation found fraudsters were exploiting Google’s advertising system by purchasing search ads and masquerading as authorized service agents for companies such as Apple Inc."

"A 2018 study found 72% of sponsored ads on major search engines related to technical support queries led to scam websites."