So How Do Scammers Get Their Phone Numbers At The Top Of Google Search Results?
This is going to answer a question that I get a lot when I help people who were the victims of scams, or from people who read my posts about scams. Which is how it’s possible to get a fake tech support number or a fake customer service number to the top of Google’s search results. But before I give you the how part, let me give you some background first.
Often when I investigate and remediate scams, the victim hasn’t had the scammer call them. It’s the other way around. For example, I was recently called in to remediate this scam where a couple had an issue with their printer. And they used Google to get a tech support number. The problem was that the number that they got from Google was a fake tech support company. And it would have ended really badly had they not got suspicious and disconnected the call. But by that point, the scammer had connected to their computer and had a look around it.
The reason why this sort of scam works is because people want to call a phone number to get help with something. That’s because they may be of a certain generation who are more comfortable talking to a person than using a chat bot for example. Or they feel that they will get better service from a real human being. Scammers know this and use this to their advantage. Since Google is the number one search engine out there, and they know that Google sells ads where if you pay them enough, they will post their ad high up on their search results. For example, here’s what you get on Google if you type in “Facebook customer service”.
Every phone number that you see here is fake and if you call any of these numbers, you’ll get connected to a scammer. The scammer who placed this ad is betting on the fact that you are so desperate for help that your guard will be down, and as a result you will fall into their trap by calling the number.
So, how do you avoid falling into their trap? Here’s some random thoughts:
If you’re looking the phone number of a telco or a utility company, check your bills from said company for a phone number.
If you have a smartphone, install the company’s app on your phone. They will often have the phone number that you’re looking for in there. Or better yet, they may have a button that will directly connect you to the company in question via the app.
And most of all, never rely on search results from Google or any other search engine.
Google has promised for years that they will crack down of this. And to their credit, they have made efforts to make this problem go away. But this is still a problem which means that they still have a lot of work to do to keep users safe. Until that day comes, it’s up to you to keep yourself safe by keeping your wits about you.
This entry was posted on September 9, 2024 at 8:45 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Scam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
So How Do Scammers Get Their Phone Numbers At The Top Of Google Search Results?
This is going to answer a question that I get a lot when I help people who were the victims of scams, or from people who read my posts about scams. Which is how it’s possible to get a fake tech support number or a fake customer service number to the top of Google’s search results. But before I give you the how part, let me give you some background first.
Often when I investigate and remediate scams, the victim hasn’t had the scammer call them. It’s the other way around. For example, I was recently called in to remediate this scam where a couple had an issue with their printer. And they used Google to get a tech support number. The problem was that the number that they got from Google was a fake tech support company. And it would have ended really badly had they not got suspicious and disconnected the call. But by that point, the scammer had connected to their computer and had a look around it.
The reason why this sort of scam works is because people want to call a phone number to get help with something. That’s because they may be of a certain generation who are more comfortable talking to a person than using a chat bot for example. Or they feel that they will get better service from a real human being. Scammers know this and use this to their advantage. Since Google is the number one search engine out there, and they know that Google sells ads where if you pay them enough, they will post their ad high up on their search results. For example, here’s what you get on Google if you type in “Facebook customer service”.
Every phone number that you see here is fake and if you call any of these numbers, you’ll get connected to a scammer. The scammer who placed this ad is betting on the fact that you are so desperate for help that your guard will be down, and as a result you will fall into their trap by calling the number.
So, how do you avoid falling into their trap? Here’s some random thoughts:
And most of all, never rely on search results from Google or any other search engine.
Google has promised for years that they will crack down of this. And to their credit, they have made efforts to make this problem go away. But this is still a problem which means that they still have a lot of work to do to keep users safe. Until that day comes, it’s up to you to keep yourself safe by keeping your wits about you.
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This entry was posted on September 9, 2024 at 8:45 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Scam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.