3 new ways scammers target you on Bing and Google

Scam advertisers are using devious new tactics to impersonate brands such as British Airways and Tesco, despite being vetted by Bing and Google, warns Which?. 

Both search engines have introduced identity verification processes for advertisers in an effort to combat scams but these checks aren't always effective. 

Which? warned about a verified advertiser fraudulently posing as Lyca Mobile on Google in February, yet more fakes have been reported since by marketing security firm Marcode. 

Google and Bing's labelling of advertisers as 'verified' may give the public a false sense of security that these ads are legitimate, putting them at risk of being scammed. 

We are warning the public to treat all online advertising with caution, no matter how convincing. 

Here, we explain the three tactics used in these scam ads.

Sign up for scam alerts

Our emails will alert you to scams doing the rounds, and provide practical advice to keep you one step ahead of fraudsters.

Sign up for scam alerts

1. Speed dial a scammer

If you searched on Bing for 'British Airways' on 30 April you may have inadvertently clicked on a fake advert directing you to call the airline. 

This sneaky scam ad featured above search results for the genuine British Airways website and specifically targeted people using Bing on their mobile phone. 

Clicking the link automatically sent you to the call function on your device, preloaded with the phone number 020 3953 0700. 

Neither the advert nor the phone number have anything to do with the real British Airways.

When Which? researchers called this number, they were asked to provide a British Airways booking reference number and other sensitive data.

2. Fake contact details on the genuine website

An even sneakier version of this helpline scam is where the rogue advert directs you to the genuine website.

This is because scammers can generate a link to a particular web page using any search query they like. 

In one example, the malicious advertiser had simply searched for 'Contact Britishairways Customer Service 44 118 328 2053' using the search box on britishairways.com. They then added a link to the search results as the destination for their advert. 

Cleverly, this makes it seem as though you are being shown results for a legitimate phone number, though it has nothing to do with British Airways and had already been disconnected when we spotted the advert. 

British Airways said: 'We always encourage customers to remain vigilant when online. The official BA website is encrypted and can be verified by looking for 'https' at the start of our web address. We also provide online security information and advice to help customers protect against fraudulent online activity. Where such websites are identified, we report them to the authorities for investigation.'

All British Airways contact details are displayed on its website. 

3. Fake spinning wheel competition

A different advertiser has repeatedly targeted the public with bogus competitions using Google. 

The adverts seem as though they link to tesco.com and other known retailers, but in reality you are sent through a series of redirects (flicking from one website to another) before landing on a web page at savingsmartpoint.com/tsco-uk. 

This features a 'spinning voucher code wheel' which requires you to enter sensitive data on a 'RewardsFlow' website called nationalconsumerscenter.co.uk. 

We contacted RewardsFlow about this advert using the details on its website but did not receive a response. 

Tesco has confirmed to Which? that this advertiser and the online competition has nothing to do with Tesco. It said it is investigating this, and urges customers to 'remain vigilant to these types of scams and phishing emails.'

Marcode told us it has reported this advertiser to Google multiple times. 

What Bing and Google say

We told Bing we were surprised that basic checks on the advertiser posing as British Airways didn't cause any concerns about its validity. 

We asked it to explain what sort of content this company is authorised to advertise and whether it agrees that its checks failed in this instance. Bing didn't respond to our specific questions, but shared with us its Misleading Content Policies, which prohibit advertising content that is deceptive, fraudulent, or that can be harmful to its users. 

It added that the policies include advertisements that contain unsubstantiated claims, or that falsely claim or imply endorsements or affiliations with third-party products, services, governmental entities, or organisations. It also noted that when it's aware of ad instances that violate its policies, it takes action to remove them as soon as possible. It then applies the feedback into its detection mechanisms to improve its ability to detect and remove similar ads in the future.

We also contacted Google about the scam ad impersonating Tesco. It had already detected and removed the ads before we contacted them.

Google said: 'Protecting users is our top priority and we have strict ads policies that govern the types of ads and advertisers we allow on our platforms. We enforce our policies vigorously, and if we find ads that are in violation we remove them. 

'We continue to invest significant resources to stop bad actors and we are constantly evaluating and updating our policies and improving our technology to keep our users safe.'