Fake Electrum site and download Pinned by Google Ads!

[jademaxsuy]

Good Day!

This would be my first time to report about a certain fake electrum site and download which is being pinned by Google Ads! At first I try not to check the site because I am in need of an electrum wallet for my desktop. As part of security check I did read the site and something was not right. So I began suspecting and browse another site to check and compare the results after using the google search engine. So, luckily I found out that the site of electrum bitcoin wallet I tried to download was a fake site.

So here is the screenshot I took from the fake electrum site which was being pinned by the google ads! I hope to get help to report this fake site. Thanks!

Google Pinned Ads!

Beware of this Fake site below!
https://xn--lectrum-s8a.org/#home

You can see the difference in the site if you will going to look closely on the letter "e"




The Fake sophisticated Site




We know that there will be high demand to download free bitcoin wallet. So, always be careful guys!

[ranochigo]

Okay. There's a bunch of topics on this and we really don't have to help them with the SEO and post this for every site that you see. There are numerous sites, that are phishing Electrum users and it's not hard to see them from the Google Ads. If people were to start posting this every time they search Electrum on Google, we'll probably have ten new threads a day.

Go and report the site to Google by clicking report this ad and file a report. It should be removed soon enough.

If you don't believe me, go search Electrum on Google yourself. The top two results are phishing sites different from the one OP posted.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Stop using Google to find the website of exchanges, services, or wallets.

Stop following random links without checking the URL.

Start using uBlock Origin.

Never type your seed in anywhere.

How many times does this need repeated?

[Abdulkader765]

Stop using Google to find the website of exchanges, services, or wallets.

Stop following random links without checking the URL.

Start using uBlock Origin.

Never type your seed in anywhere.

How many times does this need repeated?

Yes that is right, I would like to agree with you that those who enter the new online and do not have any idea about the Internet are the ones who make most of these mistakes. Most of the online users are not aware of the internet for which they are the most victims of harassment added just think don't use the same password, using a password with special character, possible to enable 2FA and few more step to safe online using safe.

People use Google because Google has made search one of the best places in the world to search for something and because the search system is relatively easy for people to accept Google's results. Google is better known than other search engines. If newcomers don't try to find the things they need, no matter what we say, safe advice won't work.

Electrum original link https://electrum.org/#home .

[o_e_l_e_o]

People use Google because Google has made search one of the best places in the world to search for something and because the search system is relatively easy for people to accept Google's results.

The problem with Google is their ads. They happily accept money from scammers to put scam sites, phishing links, malware, etc. right at the top of search results. They do zero diligence regarding these ads and don't care at all if their users are scammed because of them. As long as the scammers pay Google their advertising fee, Google will promote anything. Every time one of these scam sites is taken down, a new one pops up at the top of Google search results within a few hours. The best option is to use a different search engine altogether which doesn't do this, such as DuckDuckGo, and also to install the best ad blocker which currently exists, which is uBlock Origin.

Electrum original link https://electrum.org/#home

I should probably add the line "Verify your downloads" in to my original quote. Yes, that is the correct link, but simply downloading from the correct link is not sufficient to guarantee your safety. Web pages can be compromised, hosting services can be compromised, GitHub accounts can be compromised. The only way to ensure your version of Electrum is legit is to verify the signature using ThomasV's public key.

https://bitcoinelectrum.com/how-to-verify-your-electrum-download/

[Peanutswar]

As long as the google are getting paid even they its a scam or a phishing website they still continuously promote this one of the better things we do is
1. Check
2. Observe
3. Verify

Still its better to avoid that website and don't risk anything with this, don't waste your funds just to check if this is a scam or not.
Recommended too to put the original electrum download link.

[robelneo]

As long as the google are getting paid even they its a scam or a phishing website they still continuously promote this one of the better things we do is
1. Check
2. Observe
3. Verify

Still its better to avoid that website and don't risk anything with this, don't waste your funds just to check if this is a scam or not.
Recommended too to put the original electrum download link.

Google ads can be manipulated people should know this because Google do not have the right mechanism to trace phishing, clone and scam site, they just accept the advertiser's fee and it will be automatically included in all their ads on their platform the advertisers prefer to choose the search engine platform, I never trust ads on shown on their search engine results, because the ads is placed to make it appear part of the search engine results

[20kevin20]

Google ads can be manipulated people should know this because Google do not have the right mechanism to trace phishing, clone and scam site, they just accept the advertiser's fee and it will be automatically included in all their ads on their platform the advertisers prefer to choose the search engine platform, I never trust ads on shown on their search engine results, because the ads is placed to make it appear part of the search engine results

If people who realize that Google prefers money over the safety of their customers (who are also those who've helped Google become the massive corporation it is today) still use it, then they need a reality check. Google would literally rather take that advertisement money and make you, as the customer, get scammed than protect you for those dozen/hundreds of bucks.

Just stop using it. It's the most rational thing one can do. Twitter and Google are both wittingly allowing scams to be promoted in the crypto community to destroy our image. It's not a mistake or incompetence; it's a strategy. Funny how a corporation can knowingly accept money from criminals and not be liable for it, but we have a semi-shit reputation as a crypto community for so-called "heavy crime usage".

[Stedsm]

--snip--
Just stop using it. It's the most rational thing one can do. Twitter and Google are both wittingly allowing scams to be promoted in the crypto community to destroy our image. It's not a mistake or incompetence; it's a strategy. Funny how a corporation can knowingly accept money from criminals and not be liable for it, but we have a semi-shit reputation as a crypto community for so-called "heavy crime usage".

It's not funny at all, people are knowingly using that shit search engine (not to forget we even have it here as a "part" of this forum) to try to search for the best results and I admire that they do give us the ^best results^ but one of my elder siblings told me that you can't find a pair of shoes that get stolen from a temple. 

But the worst thing is that, they are here just for the sake of money and don't give a damn to our privacy as they simply sell our data to companies that are eager to know more about you so to dominate you and get you to purchase what you just searched there. I've never heard of Google doing a double-check before allowing a website that allows downloads like the one posted by OP, but there are very few websites which they've banned for being malicious (for which people are trying to give $100 daily to use our AdWords account in order to advertise their site on Google).

[BitMaxz]

~snip~

Code:

Beware of this Fake site below!
https://xn--lectrum-s8a.org/#home

It shouldn't be linked here you just helping this domain to get rank on Google if you link this domain here on the forum they can easily rank up in the SERP.

If I were you remove the domain above or just put them inside the code just like what I did when I quoted your post or just make a screenshot of the domain.



Also, use this link below to report it directly to the "Google Report Phishing Page"
- https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_phish/?hl=en

Or contact AdWords directly about the ads show up on the SERP. This one is fast they can remove these ads from Google search within 1 to 2 days.

- Adwords Direct contact

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

Report fake apps to Google (It is ridiculous because people have to report fake apps after Google approve and list them on their store, Google Play).
You can report them in the list [Warning] List of fake wallets/apps on Google Play..
The Beginners & Help many reports like this and Cadaver20 compiled them, listed them in that topic.

[ranochigo]

If people who realize that Google prefers money over the safety of their customers (who are also those who've helped Google become the massive corporation it is today) still use it, then they need a reality check. Google would literally rather take that advertisement money and make you, as the customer, get scammed than protect you for those dozen/hundreds of bucks.

Most of the ads actually use a redirection on their ads. The link itself isn't the phishing but the final website is the phishing website.

It seems to load some php script before the redirection, not sure why is that for but I wild guess would be to filter out people who check for their websites and try to keep it up as long as possible. The resultant website has a domain with a similar looking e and wouldn't be super obvious to whoever using it.

I'm not sure why Google Safe Browsing wouldn't flag these out though, perhaps Electrum isn't at the top of their priority.

[sheenshane]

I'm not sure why Google Safe Browsing wouldn't flag these out though, perhaps Electrum isn't at the top of their priority.

The same question and how many reports before they will take action and then delete the malicious ads.

I remember before they had been fought scams and fraud activities and even ads related to crypto they tend to ban from them, but why they can't filter all of these fake apps and sites.

I don't know how many victims of these fakes apps from google ads, but all I can say is to have an immediate report to them once we found fake or any malicious links that come from google ads.  I've already reported.

[sujonali1819]

Google is acting like a faucet recently. The faucet does not care about how shady ads will be displayed on their platform, And now google is not caring about the ads what is displayed on their first page top. we don't expect this from a platform like as google.

[Asuspawer09]

This kind of phishing application and website will never end as long as there are people that fall into this kind of trap.

I guess when downloading the Electrum wallet just make sure that you get the link from a trusted source like this forum, and always double-check before downloading the application.

Google would take every advertisement even if it is a phishing application or some kind of cheats as long as you pay Google your gonna be able to display your ads in every search.

[XZERO1]

Do not use search engines like google that include advertisements on your search results...

Google couldn't care less how many people fall victim to these phishing websites as long as they're getting paid for it.

It's not a new thing coming from google either and this has been the case for their "Google play store" for years, there are tons of fake phishing apps being listed in their store daily and it takes them sometimes up to a month to remove these apps and that is after many complains.

That goes to show you they either put zero effort into these sorts of thing that puts their users at risk, or they are understaffed or simply not competent enough(which I highly doubt this is the case).

[jademaxsuy]

Do not use search engines like google that include advertisements on your search results...

Google couldn't care less how many people fall victim to these phishing websites as long as they're getting paid for it.

It's not a new thing coming from google either and this has been the case for their "Google play store" for years, there are tons of fake phishing apps being listed in their store daily and it takes them sometimes up to a month to remove these apps and that is after many complains.

That goes to show you they either put zero effort into these sorts of thing that puts their users at risk, or they are understaffed or simply not competent enough(which I highly doubt this is the case).

Whether we like it or not we can use search engine for some reason. Like myself had been remembering the site for electrum in which I do not have the knowledge of the said site. So, I was using the google search engine but as part of checking before proceeding I did recognized that there is certainly wrong about the site. This is why I was worried and able to share it here because this is my first time to encounter such ads pinned by google in the results. As a user who would had thought that google did not made a thorough screening before accepting payment for their service even if it could also ruin the reputation of their platform by promoting a phishing site.

[Yaunfitda]

Google is acting like a faucet recently. The faucet does not care about how shady ads will be displayed on their platform, And now google is not caring about the ads what is displayed on their first page top. we don't expect this from a platform like as google.

Not just recently, I think it started way back, it was just magnified today as bitcoin is on social media, scammers taking advantage of it by creating fake and phishing websites, and then used Google, or shall I say pay Google to have their sites on page 1 thru their ads. Very easy method for this criminals with the help of Google for them to earn easy money by trapping newbies, in this case the well known Electrum wallet.

[DdmrDdmr]

<…>

Smile for the camera, you’ve got an admirer : Tenga en cuenta el anuncio de Google de Fake Electrum

There’s an increasing habit of other’s using Google Translate to create their post in a devious way. The admirer, as I referred to ironically, has done this with @jademaxsuy’s OP, and a bunch of other post form another site, without doing the bare minimum, which is crediting the source. No worries, he’s been reported, and will soon be banned (which is not the objective, but if one tries to be devious, without even referencing the source, he darn well deserves it).

On the topic of the Ads themselves, most people do not use Adblockers, nor even know of their existence, and are thus easily exposed to fake Google Ads, which will no doubt be on the rise as ATH is being surpassed by the hour.