One Moment, Please… Scammers Using Google Searches

Just when you think the scammers can’t get any worse, they raise the bar. And, artificial intelligence will only make their methods more deceptive for all of us. 

About a year ago, I was locked out of my personal Facebook account.  The funny thing is that I prompted the lockout because I received a suspicious e-mail from Meta.  I questioned whether it was legit with Facebook, and they locked me out of my account.

It took me about five days to finally gain access to my account.  During that time, I tried everything, but Meta (Facebook) kept creating hurdles.  I had to provide images of my driver’s license, passport, and even verify I was who I said I was with a video of my face that could be cross referenced with my driver’s license and passport pictures.

While going through this process, I tried to find a phone number for Facebook. Good luck with that. Well, I thought I struck gold when I conducted a Google search, “Facebook customer support phone number.”

The number showed up without a problem.  I couldn’t find a phone number on Facebook, but I found one with a Google search.  That should have been a red flag, but I made the call anyway.

The phone rang less than three times, and a gentleman with a foreign accent answered, “Hello, this is customer support. How may I help you?”

I asked him if he was with Facebook.  Of course, he said yes.

I was cautiously optimistic.  He asked me what issues I was having with my Facebook account.  And, then he said he could help me resolve the issues if I allowed him remote access to my laptop.  Ah, I knew that wasn’t necessary, so I ended the call.

If you’ve ever seen the movie “The Beekeeper,” you know what can happen. Once they gain access to your computer, remotely, they can access any accounts in which you have entered passwords; bank accounts, credit cards, etc. And, then they start draining your accounts.

This is real and this can happen.  Hackers make a living stealing from trusting people every day.

Scammers pose as tech support.  They pretend to be from trusted organizations like your bank, the IRS, or a delivery service like the USPS, FedEx or UPS.  They have call centers dedicated to scamming people out of money.

The scammers have sharpened their tools and even utilize Google searches.

Recently, a good friend of mine was scammed by one of these companies pretending to be SXM Radio. She was calling SXM Radio to update her subscription.

Back in May, she had done a quick Google search for SXM Radio’s phone number. After seeing the first phone number that popped up in the search, she called and a person answered.  They said they were with SXM Radio.  They told her they’d give her three years of service for $150.  They asked for her credit card information, and she asked for a confirmation e-mail to be sent to her.

Recently, she called SXM Radio with a question, and the person with SXM Radio said he had no record of the previous conversation she had with their company.  She quickly figured out that she previously called a number that wasn’t the real SXM Radio company.  It was a scam phone number.  She then checked her credit card account to see if there were any suspicious charges. Fortunately, the scammer only did a one-time charge of $150.  It could have been worse since they had her credit card information.  She called her credit card company and explained what happened. They rejected the fraudulent charge, and everything turned out OK.

In both of these scenarios, the scammers were using Google to bump their credibility as a legit phone number to the top of the search listings.

Whether you are trying to find a phone number for Microsoft,  Facebook, SXM Radio, or any company you do business with, please take note that you should be very cautious.  The scammers are investing a lot of money and resources for top ranking SEO to deceive customers.  Also, never give any remote access to your phone or computer devices unless you feel it is necessary AND you can trust that you have reached a legit company.  Last, never give your credit card information, social security number or date of birth over the phone unless you feel a certain level of trust.

If you feel you’ve been scammed, you’ll definitely want to call your bank and credit card companies to freeze your accounts. I would also suggest calling the credit reporting agencies like Experian, Equifax and Transunion to put a hold on your credit.  If you don’t, scammers can actually apply for credit and open bank accounts in your name without your knowledge.

Unfortunately, nowadays, you have to be on guard with protecting your identity and access to your information at all times.