Malicious Links Costed Crypto Investors Upto $4 Million in Losses: Google Ads Data

ScamSniffer, in its findings, said that the number of malicious URLs floating around on the web have surged in recent times.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Richa Sharma | Updated: 27 April 2023 17:39 IST

Malicious Links Costed Crypto Investors Upto $4 Million in Losses: Google Ads Data

Photo Credit: Pexels/ Tima Miroshnichenko

Scammers have started getting around security layers like parameter distinction

Highlights

Hackers often breach Google's security layers to post ads
ScamSniffer has listed some suggestions for Google Ads
Google has not responded to the development as yet

Crypto investors have lost up to $4 million (roughly Rs. 35 crore) by engaging with hoax links, sprawled all over the web, according to the information extracted from analysing Google Ads data. Unfortunately, the web is flooded with such malicious links, which when interacted with can drain the hard-earned savings from the victims. ScamSniffer, a cyber security service provider, has published its findings in a recent report highlighting the current situation around Web3 scams.

Notorious scammers looking to steal money via online means spread infected links usually leading to fraud websites. These fake sites are infamous for prompting visitors on disclosing the credentials of the digital wallets.

ScamSniffer, in its findings, said that the number of malicious URLs floating around on the web have surged in recent times.

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“ScamSniffer has investigated multiple cases where users clicked on malicious ads and were directed to fraudulent websites. Investigation into the keywords used by victims has uncovered numerous malicious ads at the forefront of search results. Most users, unaware of the deceptive nature of search ads, click on the first available option, leading them to malicious websites,” the handle of the cyber security firm said.

2/ :male-detective: Investigation into the keywords used by victims has uncovered numerous malicious ads at the forefront of search results.
Most users, unaware of the deceptive nature of search ads, click on the first available option, leading them to malicious websites. #Cybersecurity pic.twitter.com/kKtomcn3SB
— Scam Sniffer (@realScamSniffer) April 27, 2023

Google has deployed multiple review processes to scan advertisements for any suspicious links. Hackers, however, have cracked ways to breach Google's safety layers.

Scammers have started getting around security layers like parameter distinction and debugging prevention via tampered links that appear to be a legitimate webpage or activity.

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An estimated 3,000 victims fell prey to crypto scams in the last one year by interacting with suspicious links.

The majority chunk of these stolen crypto tokens was later found to have engaged with Binance US, KuCoin crypto exchange, and legally troubled crypto mixer Tornado Cash

The team of developers at ScamSniffer have suggested some improvements that Google Ads can consider implementing to safeguard the global crypto community against financial risks.

“Recommended improvements for @GoogleAds include the integration of a Web3-focused malicious website detection engine and continuous monitoring of landing pages throughout the ad placement lifecycle,” the security firm noted.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, ScamSniffer, Google Ads, Web3, Crypto

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More