New email scam targeting Google Ads (AdWords) customers

In the ever more creative and ambitious world of the email scammer, a new email targeting Google Ads (AdWords) accounts has recently come to light which advertisers need to be aware of, plus a new version of Microsoft’s software updates email is also being circulated with a link to a virus.

The Google Ads (AdWords) email closely replicates the format and content of the genuine ones that are sent out by Google regarding the approval status of an advert within an AdWords account, claiming that an advert includes a Pop-Up or contravenes their guidelines in other ways. However, on closer inspection it is a scam that includes a link that supposedly goes to the account login page – where you can review the status of the advert ‘ yet in reality is takes you to a URL that is not a Google domain yet appears to be the relevant AdWords login page.

Therefore if a user logs in to this page to view their account they are potentially exposing their account details to the scammers and, although billing details should be secure, they will have access to the full AdWords account information.

If you have a Google Ads (AdWords) account please check that any emails you receive from Google (or possibly from Yahoo or Microsoft regarding their PPC accounts) has a legitimate URL for the login page link, or the landing page is also a Google URL as the email link may redirect to the scammer’s site. The email should also include an AdWords account number which you can check to see if this is correct (but if you need to login to your account to check this, make sure you do so from the main Google site and not from the link in the email).

This scam is just one of the numerous malicious emails that are sent out every day to generate ‘phishing’ attacks to get user login details to bank accounts or other secure sites, or to circulate viruses. There is also an email now circulating that appears to come from Microsoft regarding a security software update together with a link that tells you to download the update ‘ of course, you shouldn’t do this otherwise you are risking your PC or network to a virus attack. Microsoft has posted information about checking the legitimacy of software update emails from them.

If you receive emails regarding your AdWords or other PPC accounts and are not sure if they are genuine or not, please contact us for advice.

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