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May. 5, 2008 at 8:10am Eastern by Barry Schwartz
Beware: Google AdWords Phishing Attempts Continue
Google adwords fuel new URL attack from IDG News reports that the AdWords credit card phishing attempts continue to be a problem.
Emails disguised as official Google AdWords emails are being sent to advertisers asking them to update their billing information. When advertisers go through the link and update their billing information, their credit card information is being sent to hackers across the globe. I have a copy of the email at the Search Engine Roundtable, where I first reported this back in March.
If you look at the link embedded in those phishing emails, it might appear that you are taken to Google.com, but in reality, you are taken to a URL that looks something like this: http://adwords.google.com.fr4ck.cn/select/Login.
IDG News says the URL is associated with IPs in Germany, Romania, and the Czech Republic.
Phishing attempts are nothing new to Google or the Internet. The biggest phishing attempt going around in the past couple months are fake emails from the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). They're basically fake emails from the IRS saying that you are entitled to a refund on your US taxes. Don't be fooled by those either.
Any email that asks you to update your billing information should be carefully analyzed. In fact, if you get an email like that, it is best to avoid clicking on any of those URLs or links in the email itself. Instead, go directly to the site by typing in the real address and see if you are prompted with the same message from the real site. Or better yet, call customer service and tell them you got this email.
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By Barry Schwartz
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