The level of online fraud is constantly growing in both scale and complexity. Earlier it was reported that 80% of Ukrainians face online fraud during the year.
To help protect users, the Google Trust & Safety team has compiled five of the most common scams that people have encountered recently.
Campaigns that reproduce images of public figures
As part of this scheme, fraudsters create fake images of famous people on various platforms using artificial intelligence and other technologies. These fakes are used to advertise fraudulent promotions, fake raffles and gifts, as well as to distribute malware.
Investment schemes in cryptocurrency
The second most common fraud topic is cryptocurrency investment schemes. Attackers promise users incredibly good investment conditions in order to make a profit. Sometimes, fake images of famous people are also used to advertise such schemes to gain trust.
Clone the application and the main page
Fraudsters often use the method of cloning applications and homepages of popular websites to steal users' banking data. They create copies of bank websites or apps, pretending to be bank employees. This helps to lure the victim to a fake website or convince them to download a malicious application.
Hide content on the landing page
Fraudsters use deceptive tactics such as cloaking, showing different content to Google and to users. This helps them bypass moderation and promote fraudulent sites. Such pages often imitate well-known brands and create urgency, encouraging users to buy fakes. In addition, fraudsters redirect users through tracking templates to scareware sites. Such pages claim that the device is infected or locked and lure users to fake "tech support" to obtain confidential data.
Using major events for your own purposes
Google highlights the exploitation of large-scale events as one of the key fraudulent schemes. Attackers target elections, popular shows, sporting events, or humanitarian crises, creating fake campaigns to advertise fake goods and services. Thanks to artificial intelligence tools, fraudsters react quickly to current news, making their schemes more convincing and relevant at the time of their appearance.
By the way, Google creates a lot of tools to fight fraud and spam. The day before, it introduced the Scam Detection feature that can detect fraudulent patterns right during a phone call and warn users. The company is also working on the Shielded Email feature for Gmail, which should further protect people from such messages.