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Tech support scams have always targeted unsuspecting and elderly users who lack the technical knowledge to distinguish between legitimate and fake websites. Now, according to a new report from the BleepingComputer, threat actors have started using seemingly legitimate Amazon ads that appear on Google Search results and lead to a scam Microsoft Defender website.
As per the report, what makes this scam convincing is the fact the threat actors are using a convincingly genuine Amazon ad with a legitimate URL. However, when users click on this Amazon ad, anticipating a visit to the retailer’s site, they are redirected to a scam Microsoft website, which falsely asserts that their computer has fallen prey to the ‘ads(exe).financetrack(2).dll’ malware. Additionally, to make matters worse, the scam traps users’ browsers in full-screen mode, making it extremely difficult to exit the fraudulent page without closing all open browser windows.
Although forcibly closing the browser windows offers an escape route, the fact that Chrome prompts users to restore their previously closed tabs could compound the problems, as it will inadvertently reopen the fraudulent page.
History of scammers using Google ads
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time scammers have used Google ads to promote their scams. This is because, just last year, security experts from Malwarebytes uncovered a similar scam, where threat actors leveraged a genuine-looking YouTube ad with a legitimate URL, which led users to the same Windows Defender tech support scam. Therefore, given the increase in such phishing scams, Google will need to implement stringent measures to prevent threat actors from creating ads that mimic other brands.
However, until then, users will need to stay remain vigilant and adopt proactive measures to safeguard themselves from such attacks. These include checking the sponsored links on the top of search results and using the F11 key or the Esc key on your keyboard to exit full-screen browser mode.
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