Users can never be too careful taking precautions with online activity regardless of how competent or comfortable they feel. The number of people affected by the Google Doc scam showed just how seriously cybercriminals are striving to keep pace with security developments. Lessons From the Google Docs Phishing Scam Google reported over 1 billion active users in 2016 - the year before the Google Doc phishing attack - so around 1 million people may have been affected by the Google Doc phishing scam. At the time, however, the scam was received with a cacophonous outcry from users wondering how a lapse in such trusted security could happen.Ī Google spokesperson mentioned in an email statement to The Register, a leading tech website, that fewer than 0.1% of gmail users were affected. Google and their abuse team aggressively stopped the massive campaign in less than an hour by removing the fake pages and applications, as well as by putting in place automatic and manual protective measures and updates for users. The Google Docs email phishing scam took place in 2017 and is no longer active. ![]() Is the Google Docs Phishing Email Still Active? In reality, it was a third-party app named “Google Docs”, mimicking the real Google Docs. ![]() As such, the URL appeared as a normal, secure Google Doc’s URL would. One of the most exceptional marks of sophistication that made the scheme nearly undetectable was that it was hosted on Google’s servers. As the email appeared to be from a known source, many people trusted and clicked the link. Once the user logged into the fake page, scammers were granted access to the user’s account. However, the login page was an extremely well-crafted fake that included Google imagery and icons. The email included text referring to an “important document” link once clicked, the user was brought to what appeared to be the Google Docs login page. The Google Docs phishing scam began with an email appearing to be sent from a known email address. When a scammer phishes Google Docs to get into people’s sensitive Information gathering, document sharing, and is a platform for collaborative The massive entity itself is a trustedĪnd heavily relied-upon resource for business and personal communication, “To google,” “googling,” and “Google” are allĬomfortable terms in modern language. One particularly cunning example is the Google Docs phishing scam, which proved how everyone - even the most computer savvy - need to stay sharp and on the lookout for deceptive content and links. That’s just $19 for an entire year of protection.Cybercriminals continue developing frightening levels of sophistication into their scams. Get the Best Security Suite for 2021 and save an exclusive 80% at /Kim. Have strong antivirus protetion on all of your devices.Never click on links or download attachments in emails or texts when the message is from a stranger.If something looks strange to you, back away immediately. Where possible, check the sender’s email address and their name in the document.There are a few other things that you can do to stay safe online and while using Google Docs. Reach out to the sender before clicking links in the message to ensure it’s authentic. If you’re ever tagged in a Google Docs comment, verifying the sender actually sent it is critical. ![]() What you can do about itĬriminals rely on you to simply glance over a sender’s name without inspecting the email address. While Google might be aware of the flaw in Docs, the company is yet to do something about it proactively. In a report from Avanan, tricking Google Docs users into clicking on malicious links has been used since October of 2021. This makes impersonating contacts easier and makes the message seem authentic. One reason this spear-phishing scam is so effective is recipients don’t see the sender’s email address, as only a name is displayed. Now, scammers are sending links that lead to malicious websites that attempt to install malware on your device. Google doesn’t check these links, allowing for malicious content to be distributed. The problem comes from the fact that external links are allowed in comments. But hackers have found a way to abuse the system. Usually, this process is relatively benign.
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