There have been multiple accounts created with the sole purpose of posting advertisement posts or replies containing unsolicited advertising.

Accounts which solely post advertisements, or persistently post them may be terminated.

This scam is approved and doesn't go against Google's policies

It was a video of someone pretending to tell you a secret: thanks to a new israeli app based on ai, it’s possible to make 8000 euro per month with trading by just opening an account with their referral and depositing 500 euro. 100% safe and definitely not a scam.

Maybe not a literal scam but imho deceiving people just because they’re going to give you $100 in referral money is a scam

gencha ,

I have yet to get any other response than this template. Having scam ads is intentional. As long as the scammers pay for ads, everything is going as intended for Google

Crashumbc ,

Facebook is the same, I still report the ads and scam videos, but never expect anything to come of it.

numberfour002 ,

It’s infuriating (mildly may be an understatement).

My neighbor ended up getting “a virus” on her laptop. It wasn’t actually a virus as best I could tell, but instead, it was a full screen pop-up browser window with no window controls.

The scam had a bunch of scary messaging and loud sound playing an alarm with someone stating that the computer was infected and that it was also infecting Microsoft’s servers. Further, the scam insisted that she call the number on the screen or she will face legal issues.

For an older non-technical person, it was frightening.

After this happened a second time, I did a little more digging to see if I could figure out what was going on. Virus scans showed no infection and I couldn’t find much online with specifics about what I was seeing.

Turns out, my neighbor was going to Google, searching for terms like “Amazon”, and then she was clicking the first ad / sponsored link in the results expecting to be taken to the Amazon website. Instead, the sponsored ad on Google search was linking to a blog on Microsoft’s Azure hosting services, which then triggered the full screen non-closable scam.

I even tested it out on one of my old laptops. Went to Google search, tried the exact search term she used, and sure enough, the same exact thing happened. I reported the ad, it is clearly malicious and a scam. It’s ridiculous that Google actually serves up malicious ads like this. And the ad was up there for days after I reported it. I sincerely hope nobody actually got scammed by it, but I definitely feel like Google should be responsible for any damages/losses.

I did go ahead and install ad blockers on all her browsers, removed google search from being the default search engine, and showed her how to avoid clicking on ads and sponsored links if/when any slip through the cracks. So, hopefully it won’t happen again.

kersplomp ,

They’d have to block all investment platforms. Even ETrade and Chase have ads like that.

GenosseFlosse ,

But but but … Think about the ad revenue!!!

DarkThoughts ,

Sounds like a pyramid scheme.

possiblylinux127 ,

Probably not against Google TOS

Rai ,

More like a pig butchering scam. Kitboga recently “invested” real money for the first time in a QuantumAI scam so they would talk to him, and got some psychopath named Lana who talked to him about the scam for days until he kinda leaked who he was a lil bit and she ghosted.

Got_Bent ,

Send the scam a hundred bucks, lose it, sue Google for fraudulent endorsement.

(Yes yes, this wouldn’t work in the real world against Google’s legions of lawyers, but I like the thought exercise)

Stovetop ,

Eh, they might settle in exchange for an NDA to avoid bad press.

667 ,
@667@lemmy.radio avatar

Here’s the $0.03 for your individual class settlement.

CosmicTurtle0 ,

$100 is small claims territory. Most jurisdictions, it’s against the rules to hire an attorney and must be represented by someone who has the authority to make a settlement.

Riven ,
@Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

What are the odds they send a “manager” who has that authority and they just ‘happen’ to be a lawyer? Also, would that be legal? I don’t see why it wouldn’t as they could just claim they are there in their capacity as a manager.

pewpew ,
@pewpew@feddit.it avatar

That’s why you need adblock

saltesc ,

But then I’ll miss out on all the life-enriching ads!

Malix ,
@Malix@sopuli.xyz avatar

I can’t believe the amount of hot singles in %LOCATION_NAME% near me!

Rhynoplaz ,

Hello friend! I am also live in %LOCATION_NAME%! Send me your phone number and mother’s maiden name so we can be friend!

Malix ,
@Malix@sopuli.xyz avatar

3, Robert"; DROP TABLE *; –

Rhynoplaz ,

Oh, little Bobby Tables always fucking with my databases!

pewpew ,
@pewpew@feddit.it avatar

A good friend always shares his credit card info 🤗

possiblylinux127 ,
  • Google, probably
lvxferre ,
@lvxferre@mander.xyz avatar

Reporting scams to Google is a waste of your time. If the company has any sort of manual review of the reports (I have my doubts), odds are that the review happens only if an item is reported by multiple people, and that the reviewers don’t spend more than five whole seconds checking it.

MNByChoice ,

It smells of contractor (and subcontractor) work. At some point someone with very little latitude is reading poorly phrased directions.

Xeroxchasechase ,

You mean underpaid slave work in a third world country?

corsicanguppy ,

More like underpaid contractor in an at-will American state.

kersploosh ,
@kersploosh@sh.itjust.works avatar

“Latitude” can mean freedom of choice, or scope of work, rather than position on the Earth. I think he’s saying that it looks like the work of some low-level employee just doing what they’re told without thinking much about it.

corsicanguppy ,

A friend worked at one of these shady contractor houses google uses.

Your 5 seconds isn’t too far off, but add in a crusty failomatic gig time-clock taking 53 seconds to start your one-minute task timer, and you’re there.

TrickDacy , (edited )
@TrickDacy@lemmy.world avatar

And if you mention in a review that a business did something illegal they will silently hide your review from the public but still show it to you if you’re logged in. Happened to me once. Confirmed my theory by removing the word “illegal” and it showed back up in a few minutes in my private tab.

edit: lol someone downvoted this.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • random
  • [email protected]
  • lifeLocal
  • goranko
  • All magazines
    •