An ad was recently spotted on Google which, although regular in appearance, actually carries a full-blown scam.
The ad in question, apparently, would refer to Amazon and, hovering the mouse over the link, it would report a URL entirely legitimate to this platform. Despite these premises, a click is enough for the user to start a real nightmare.
Once the page is opened, in fact, it shows a warning of Microsoft Defender in which a fictitious technical support is proposed, ready to intervene for a phantom malware present on the machine.
These tech support scams are hard to spot: the browserin fact, immediately switches to full screen. This makes it difficult to exit the page, while also leveraging a sense of urgency that misleads most users.
The BleepingComputer site contacted both Google and Amazon regarding this case malvertising until this moment.
The case of Amazon ads on Google? Just the latest in a long series
This modus operandi, it must be said, is anything but new. In June 2022, Malwarebytes discovered an ad YouTube legit looking guy who was also using the platform URL, posing the same tech support scam.
On the other hand, scams are very common when it comes to Google ads, with several recent cases also affecting them ransomware and other malevolent agents spread through the famous search engine.
In this context, therefore, it is good to pay close attention to what happens on the screen. A behavior such as the sudden appearance of a full-screen message, with text urging urgency, it shouldn’t cause panic.
If your computer already has a antivirus adequate, this will have already blocked any malware. Beyond that, it’s fine keep your software up to datethe browser and the same antivirus on all.
