Online scams are rampant nowadays. What’s worse, these scammers even use the names of credible platforms to trick people, such as Gmail. Google recently warned of scammers impersonating Gmail’s technical support team to do such things as stealing your financial information. The increasing number of website pop-ups and scam phone calls that may steal your financial and personal data has prompted Google to issue a warning.
These scammers attack when users need to recover their account credentials or change their passwords. Users may receive a call from these scammers offering them “help” when their objective is to hack your account.
Google reiterates that the only way to seek Gmail technical support is via the official website of Gmail’s Help Center. In Gmail’s Help Center, you can already get the help you need for any issue you are encountering, such as signing in, resetting your password, creating a new account, changing your Gmail settings, and much more.
Pop-ups
One way that scammers use to trick users and steal their information is through third-party websites and pop-ups that offer “technical support for Gmail and other products of Google.”
These pop-up sites may request payment from users, which is something that Google won’t ever do, the company told news outlets.
Google also clarified that these pop-up websites that claim to provide password reset and recovery assistance, as well as other Gmail-related technical support, are in no way tied to Google. The company said it would never ask for payment from users just to recover their account information or change their password.
Calls
Pop-up websites are not the only media scammers use to make users fall into their trap. They may also call you to inform you that your Google account has been “hijacked” or your computer has a “virus or malware” that needs to be addressed.
If users become victims, these calls may deceive you into giving the scammers your username and password, giving them access to your accounts.
Google clarified that it does not offer phone-based Gmail support and that these unscrupulous phone calls are in no way affiliated with Google.
How to protect yourself
To protect yourself and to avoid becoming a victim of these scams, Google said you must never provide your account credential to anybody or a random person claiming to be from Google.
Also, do not fall prey to their words. Scams are often designed to create a sense of urgency, prompting you to follow what they are saying immediately.
Then, you must also double-check and triple-check the details they are claiming. For example, is there really a virus in your system? Be sure to confirm this.
In other words, stop and ignore these individuals. If they demand payment or ask for your personal details, such as your bank information, never give these to them.
