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The FBI recently issued a public service announcement warning all U.S. citizens about a cybercrime scheme in which scammers are impersonating trusting websites to steal money.
"The FBI is warning the public that cyber criminals are targeting users of employee self-service websites owned by companies and government services. The cyber criminals are using search engine advertisements to impersonate legitimate websites and steal victim information and funds," the FBI said.
Cyber scammers reportedly use faux search engine advertisements to misdirect targets to malicious websites, which mimic trusted websites but instead steal login credentials and other financial information when the victim logs in. Cyber criminals had previously targeted small business commercial bank accounts in similar schemes but have since focused on payroll, unemployment programs, and health savings accounts with the intention of stealing money through fraudulent wire transactions and redirecting of payments.
A fake ad will pop up when users look for a legitimate business, which will redirect to a phishing page capable of harvesting login details after being clicked. Criminals may pose as customer service agents and lure the targets into sharing their one-time passcodes or design phishing sites that prompt the victims to enter them, at which point they can reroute paychecks, empty bank accounts or use stolen identities to open new accounts.
The FBI is advising all Americans to "exercise caution when clicking on advertisements," "type the business's URL directly into an internet browser address bar to access the official website instead of searching for it in a search engine," "use an ad blocking extension when performing internet searches," "use Bookmarks or Favorites for navigating to login websites rather than clicking on Internet search results or advertisements" and "be aware that cyber criminals may use social engineering techniques to obtain access to accounts."