Whether you’re searching for answers on Google, searching for specific phone numbers, or even searching for a popular social media site, simple search engine queries can pose a threat with AI scams on the rise.
An expert who spoke to ABC13 says attackers are taking advantage of “search engine optimization.”
Mitchem Boles with Guide Point Security said attackers will buy ads online and make sure they rank at the top of search results, making it look like a legitimate website.
He showed us some examples, such as typing “PayPal” into the search engine. A closer look at the results reveals some sites that are not legitimate.
“So the ads that come to the top, that’s a little bit easier to find. That says, ‘Sign in to your account: Sign in to your account securely,’ but even the ad itself has a website that is not legitimate,” Boles demonstrated. “This is not PayPal’s website.”
You can see footage of their search engine demo in the video player above.
It is often recommended to check websites and emails for obvious typos that may be fraudulent. But with AI, he says, the tool is so advanced that you need to take it a step further.
“There could be something as small as where a ‘U’ could look like a horseshoe, and you can tell it’s a scam,” Boles said. “But it’s very hard to tell if you’re not looking right. And that entices you to click.”
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In another example, Boles searched for “Quicken Tech Support” and the top result came up as “sponsored.” He says you can tell it’s a scam because the sponsored ad doesn’t actually link to the Quiekn Tech Support website, despite labeling it as the “24/7 Quicken Help Number.”
Here’s how you can protect yourself:
Add or save the websites you visit often, especially your social networking sites and banks. Type the URL if you are familiar with it. Download and use apps for the businesses you visit frequently.
“If I type in something like ‘Lowes,’ for example, when I search, it looks like the legitimate site is at the top. But that’s how it redirects you,” Boles demonstrated. “So, this all seemed legitimate. However, unfortunately, this is the result of the same thing we just discussed.”
In his demo, when Mitchem clicked on a Lowes search result that looked legitimate, he was redirected to a different site that was clearly malicious.
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