Scam of the Week: Phony Utility Ads
Search engines, like Google, are so popular that many people use the search feature instead of typing a URL. For instance, people may quickly search for their electricity provider's name to find the online payment portal. And for this week's scam, that's exactly what cybercriminals want you to do. This scam tries to trick you into clicking on a fake ad instead of the billing portal that you’re trying to find. The scammers purchase a variety of fake utility payment advertisements, and you see those ads during your searches. They know that they can trick you more easily if you contact them instead of them reaching out to you.