The FBI has issued a warning about the prevalence of scams using search engine ads and search engine results which purport to link victims to their financial institution(s). Instead, these sites are taking victims to spoofed sites and login prompts, which are designed to steal their credentials.
Other specifics known about these scams are that users are prompted to enter their login credentials and phone number at a spoofed prompt. Following the entry of their phone number a scammer will phone the victim posing as a customer representative, and while on a lengthy call to supposedly restore account access, the victim’s account is accessed and wire transfers are made.
Recommendations:
- Familiarize yourself with the legitimate URLs associated with your accounts.
- Visit your accounts by typing known URLS into your browser’s address bar.
- If you access an account by other methods, double-check the URL in your browser’s address bar to confirm that the site is legitimate before clinking on any part of the web page.
- Avoid accessing your accounts via embedded links in messages, search engine results, and ads.