How many times have you been hit with an email that claims to give you millions based on simple clicking on google ads ? Make people join a pyramid and make money as the number increases . Then there are the mails that claim to put you on the first page of Google results for a nominal fee . Then there are others that want you to be their affiliate and sell stuff but you start by buying stuff for a nominal fee that will be refunded if you start selling.They’re designed to look like they were written by a regular person, just like you, who stumbled across an amazing opportunity to make their monetary dreams come true. What they don’t tell you clearly is that Google is not affiliated with these sites and that they may add extra charges to your credit card or misuse your personal information.
Have been hit ? Want to avoid a hit ? Read on …
How to identify scams and other schemes
In general, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Here are some pointers on what to look out for:
- Before you fill out a form or give someone a credit card, do a web search to see what other people are saying about the company and its practices.
- Be wary of companies that ask for upfront charges for services that Google actually offers for free. Check out Google’s business solutions page before writing a check.
- Always read the fine print. Watch out for get-rich-quick schemes that charge a very low initial fee before sneaking in large reoccurring charges on your credit card or bank account.
- Google never guarantees top placement in search results or AdWords – beware of companies that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a special relationship with Google, or advertise a “priority submit” to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is through the Add URL page or through the Sitemaps program – you can do these tasks yourself at no cost whatsoever.
- Be wary of anything resembling a pyramid scheme, where you make commissions by recruiting more participants.
- Some sales pitches use the word “Google” or other trademarks right in their name with targeted phrases like “cash,” “pay day,” “money,” “secrets,” “home business,” etc. If you can’t find it on list of Google products or on the business solutions page, don’t trust it.
- Look for third party verification. Scammers can easily cut-and-paste images to plaster a site with “as seen on TV,” “five-star reviews” and the logos of well-known news channels. Products that have really been recommended by experts and fellow users typically contain links from legitimate news sites and multiple user review sites.
- Reserve the same skepticism for unsolicited email about making money with Google AdWords as you do for “burn fat at night” diet pills or requests to help transfer funds from deposed dictators. In general, be wary of offers from firms that email you out of the blue. Amazingly, even Googlers get these spam emails too:
“I visited your website and noticed that you are not listed in most of the major search engines and directories…”
- Google is not running a lottery, and they have not picked your email address to win millions of dollars. Don’t give out your bank account details via email in anticipation of a big jackpot.
What you can do
- If you’ve been ripped off, or suspect others are, report the site and file a complaint with the appropriate agency.
- If you come across many sites with duplicate content or common templates intended to direct users to the same product or scheme, please let google know with a spam report.
- If you’ve been contacted to place suspicious links on your site for money, let Google know with the paid link report form. If you have your own website or are in charge of advertising on a site, think carefully before accepting ads or entering into affiliate programs that will lead your users to schemes like those mentioned above.
- If your site’s forums or comment sections have been spammed with fake offers of fabulous financial gain, you may need to take steps to fight comment spam. Spammers will take advantage of any user-generated content sections of your site, and will even generate thousands of fake user profiles to try to slip under the radar.
- If you receive suspicious messages that claim to be from Google, these may be phishing attempts. Please report them to phishing@google.com.
Source : Google Blog
