Malicious payloads delivered through Google Ads to steal crypto.

[satscraper]

Heads up, crypto users.

Malicious Google Ads have been impersonating various crypto services with the aim of stealing users’ funds.

The anatomy of this type of attack is fully described here.

The obvious way to avoid taking the bait is to never click on any ads shown and to rely only on your own bookmarks for any crypto site you use.

Some of those so called "Ads" are targeting Ledger's users.

[_act_]

My browsers have ad blockers and I also download the uBlock origin extension which is very good in blocking other add that my browsers ad blockers can not block.

Other ways that I am seeing ads is through some apps, but I rarely use such apps. If I am using them, I still do not click on the ads.

Ads have been a very common way to get exposed to scammers and hackers. This is one of the first thing I learnt on this forum when I become a member.

[coinlary]

I will always verify the url even after using bookmark, that can also be altered.

My browsers have ad blockers and I also download the uBlock origin extension which is very good in blocking other add that my browsers ad blockers can not block.

Ads can be annoying generally apart from beign malicious.
You can try other search engines like the duckduckgo, it's  better than Google which won't  do anything about  ads turnturning out to be increasingly dangerous every day by showing fake results while pushing the official results down.

[_act_]

You can try other search engines like the duckduckgo, it's  better than Google which won't  do anything about  ads turnturning out to be increasingly dangerous every day by showing fake results while pushing the official results down.

I use Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo. If I want to search for a forum member, I will still prefer to use Google. If I want to search randomly online, I may prefer DuckDuckGo, but not all the time.

It is good to know that no search engine you can fully trusted. I have used DuckDuckGo browser and its search engine. I also make use of it on Tor Browser. There are times that it can fake site on top of the list. I can still remember it did it before Chipmixer was taken down but having many fake sites. DuckDuckGo did gave me fake Chipmixer above while the real site can be the second or third. It can be better to avoid ads but there are still fake sites that can be on the search results if the site you are searching for is having many fake sites that have not been taken down.

I can use any search engine, as long as I have uBlock origin as an extension on the browser, but I know what I should avoid.

[Lucius]

Do you know the easiest and completely free solution to never accidentally click on a malicious ad (or an ad at all)? Use adblockers like uBlock Origin, or if you don't want to for some reason, never click on the first sponsored search results.

In the specific case, Google is your enemy who does not care that it serves you malicious ads and that your crypto wallets will be emptied. So watch your clicks and don't store more than you can afford to lose in your hot wallets.

[Hazink]

Google is becoming broken and spam paradise day by day, and they are not doing anything about it. You can have an ad blocker active on your browser and device and when you search for some random things, you will see Google bringing some suspicious content on top of your search just because they are willing to pay some fee, they don't care to check the content if It's harmful or not, and those who are not vigilant enough and trust easily just because its google can fall victim to such, it's also important to note that some social media platform like meta, telegram have also started allowing display of ads which most of them could also be harmful to crypto users.

[DPHOR]

I believe by now anyone who is that devoted to the community should be able to know what and how they should be keep their private information or personal information from their mobile phone, in fact it's good not to have your wallet, or crypto apps on the same phone you are using to browse the Internet, one should be able to have a separate device for their cryptocurrency storage or external storage and hardware to avoid being a victim of what they launched to attack ledger users. Maybe, on those who are that desperate over things that could get themselves entangled on such fishing site.

[aoluain]

Do you know the easiest and completely free solution to never accidentally click on a malicious ad (or an ad at all)? Use adblockers like uBlock Origin, or if you don't want to for some reason, never click on the first sponsored search results.

In the specific case, Google is your enemy who does not care that it serves you malicious ads and that your crypto wallets will be emptied. So watch your clicks and don't store more than you can afford to lose in your hot wallets.

100% google does not care what it serves up on a search, they offer free services to create
captive audiences which they then monetise.

I highlighted before about a trezor search result, at the top of the search was a fake site which
looked identical to the trezor one, and that was 7 years ago and its still happening along with
other scams like the OP highlighted.

Here is the thread for anyone not in the know to learn from >
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5205126.msg53198360#msg53198360

Just happened across this today.
I typed Trezor into a google search and the first result gave me a google AD - w ww.triezor.io
and when I follow the link the web address changes to https://tlezor.io/wallet/

Just drawing attention to this, I recon someone could easily get caught if in a hurray.

Here are some screenshots of how the site tries to extract your private seed:

Search result for Trezor:



.snip.

[Davidvictorson]

My browsers have ad blockers and I also download the uBlock origin extension which is very good in blocking other add that my browsers ad blockers can not block.

My browsers have ad blockers but this is my first time hearing about uBlock origin. Thank you. I will download it as an extra-layer of security.

In the past, ads were just ads with no sinister intention, it is sad to see that now, almost all these electronic messages and communications have some sinister motives attached to them that one has to verify before even thinking of opening it.

Things have changes and there will be more of these online security threats from these bad actors.

[Patikno]

My browsers have ad blockers and I also download the uBlock origin extension which is very good in blocking other add that my browsers ad blockers can not block.

Other ways that I am seeing ads is through some apps, but I rarely use such apps. If I am using them, I still do not click on the ads.

Ads have been a very common way to get exposed to scammers and hackers. This is one of the first thing I learnt on this forum when I become a member.

Personally, I also use uBlock Origin to block ads, but I use the lite version. I also use AdBlocker Ultimate + Adblock Plus to block annoying ads, that are too annoying. So, I think some people can avoid the malicious content of Google Ads, by using some of these apps, or ad-blocking add-ons. So far, I haven't experienced any problems using these apps, but you should still practice DYOR with the apps you use, and don't try to install apps, or add-ons from unknown sources, because it is more dangerous.

[coinlary]

I use Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo. If I want to search for a forum member, I will still prefer to use Google. If I want to search randomly online, I may prefer DuckDuckGo, but not all the time.

It is good to know that no search engine you can fully trusted. I have used DuckDuckGo browser and its search engine. I also make use of it on Tor Browser. There are times that it can fake site on top of the list. I can still remember it did it before Chipmixer was taken down but having many fake sites. DuckDuckGo did gave me fake Chipmixer above while the real site can be the second or third. It can be better to avoid ads but there are still fake sites that can be on the search results if the site you are searching for is having many fake sites that have not been taken down.

I can use any search engine, as long as I have uBlock origin as an extension on the browser, but I know what I should avoid.

Ikr, that has to be  SEO related, it could make it appear ontop . Better doesn't mean perfect, the risk of visiting a malicious site is still there but atleast there's elimination of annoying ads and deeper search free from most watchdogs even if not completely.

My browsers have ad blockers but this is my first time hearing about uBlock origin. Thank you. I will download it as an extra-layer of security.

I am surprised you don't know ublock. Probably when you search but you might have seen it alot or even used it  but didn't pay attention to the name because it's so popular. It's allows so much settings(you should try searching that too)

[uchegod-21]

No matter how tempting and legit a crypto ad is on Google, never click on it. Most of those ads are run by scammers and hackers. I do not know why people easily trust strange ads they see on an unregulated space such as Google. If anyone must click on any ad or link, then they should ensure that they check the URL.

For those newbies who are yet to understand this, fake URLs are usually altered; they could contain additional characters or missing characters. They usually look similar to the original, but when checked carefully and closely, one would see that something is wrong.

That is never a mistake; it is a deliberate act by scammers to lure you. People should be careful out there; today it's Ledger users, tomorrow another set of people may be targeted. Be security conscious always because your coins, once lost, cannot be recovered.

[tech30338]

No matter how tempting and legit a crypto ad is on Google, never click on it. Most of those ads are run by scammers and hackers. I do not know why people easily trust strange ads they see on an unregulated space such as Google. If anyone must click on any ad or link, then they should ensure that they check the URL.

For those newbies who are yet to understand this, fake URLs are usually altered; they could contain additional characters or missing characters. They usually look similar to the original, but when checked carefully and closely, one would see that something is wrong.

That is never a mistake; it is a deliberate act by scammers to lure you. People should be careful out there; today it's Ledger users, tomorrow another set of people may be targeted. Be security conscious always because your coins, once lost, cannot be recovered.

I have seen a lot of this in Facebook, even other people tend to send this to other people because they thought its real the bad thing is it became a chain of people that mostly new to crypto become a victim of this, from what they thought also that the referral of what they did to create or login, can give them more, they started sharing this to their friend, that is why they are become a big circle of victim, if you were sent something like that, ignore it the best way is to go to their official website, where you can confirm if its true or not those ads that give you 50 dollars when referred or something sometimes greed get the most of people.

[joniboini]

I have seen a lot of this in Facebook, even other people tend to send this to other people because they thought its real the bad thing is it became a chain of people that mostly new to crypto become a victim of this,

That's really strange. So they saw an ads and then share it to others? Even if I'm new to crypto (or anything in general), sharing ref links that way sounds bad. I'd rather believe those accounts are hacked or something else instead of deliberately sharing phishing links. I guess that's just how it is with people who have no experience dealing with fake ads.

Then again, using social media and trusting everything on there seems like a bad move.

[ultrloa]

Heads up, crypto users.

Malicious Google Ads have been impersonating various crypto services with the aim of stealing users’ funds.

The anatomy of this type of attack is fully described here.

The obvious way to avoid taking the bait is to never click on any ads shown and to rely only on your own bookmarks for any crypto site you use.

Some of those so called "Ads" are targeting Ledger's users.

This is one of big risk of those ads we see online and this is the biggest reason why we should not click those links that we see.

Much really better to have an ad block or use brave browser so that we can potentially avid those unwanted ads. Also its good to be aware on this so that once they see something suspicious ads they can immediately ignore it. For sure that there are many  attempts like this happening everyday so its good for people especially for ledger users to know how to make their asset safe from this type of attacks.

[YellowSwap]

You do know that you can do everything you want in your PC if your crypto and money is kept away from your PC?

All you got to do is buy a hardware wallet, that's all, make sure it's the type that has a screen that you can operate with, then you are free to become careless with your PC, keep to one rule only, your hardware wallet and your PC are not friends.

Keep them away from eachother, download whatever you like on your PC, browse through anything but don't bring your wallet close to it, because let's be realistic for a sec, for how long can you keep avoid malicious threats on PC? They are just too many.

[Lucius]

100% google does not care what it serves up on a search, they offer free services to create
captive audiences which they then monetise.

I highlighted before about a trezor search result, at the top of the search was a fake site which
looked identical to the trezor one, and that was 7 years ago and its still happening along with
other scams like the OP highlighted.
~snip~

Why would they care about such things when they are legally covered so that nothing can happen to them even if someone sues them? When you see that the same Google shows fake mixers in its ads, and at the same time we cannot advertise legitimate ones on this forum, then you can see how arrogant and untouchable they are.

[tabas]

All you got to do is buy a hardware wallet, that's all, make sure it's the type that has a screen that you can operate with, then you are free to become careless with your PC, keep to one rule only, your hardware wallet and your PC are not friends.

Still, be careful and it's a must for all users. After owning a hardware wallet, you need to be even more careful than ever. That's part of growth as we stay on this investment. Don't be reckless, you'll regret that later.

Keep them away from eachother, download whatever you like on your PC, browse through anything but don't bring your wallet close to it, because let's be realistic for a sec, for how long can you keep avoid malicious threats on PC? They are just too many.

Being informed will make you avoid those threats. And being aware of what you're downloading will keep you away from it and that's even if we're all free download anything, always verify what you're downloading.

[DYING_S0UL]

This is nothing new, this has been happening for a couple of years now, maybe more. Google doesn't give a shit about what happens to you or whether your wallet gets drained by malicious ads. As long as money & data is coming, they don't care. Accidents can happen at any time, so it's better to use an adblocker as everyone suggested. Also, the first rule of thumb, never click the first link (sponsored one), and the second, always bookmark your sites. With these, we can greatly reduce the number of accidental clicks..

[salad daging]

My browsers have ad blockers and I also download the uBlock origin extension which is very good in blocking other add that my browsers ad blockers can not block.

Your browser has the uBlock Origin extension installed does that still affect the signatures on the forum? Because what I know is that uBlock Origin used to block signatures on the forum, for me Brave browser is good enough because it blocks ads automatically without the need to download other extensions.

You can try other search engines like the duckduckgo, it's  better than Google which won't  do anything about  ads turnturning out to be increasingly dangerous every day by showing fake results while pushing the official results down.

My habit of doing search engines remains on Google, unfortunately Google cannot filter which fraudulent ads, because sometimes the ads are at the top compared to the official ones.