Bogus advertising: a tightrope walk
Since the early days of the Internet, rogue ads have been a particular plague on the Internet. As a user, you never quite know what's waiting in the browser, such as an irritating pop-up window or spinning banner that announces that you have won a prize in an advertisement that contains a malicious redirect or malvertising when you request a web page.
The FBI has issued a warning regarding fake ads that impersonate the original thing to deceive potential victims into traveling to remote areas.
Several advertisements appear at the top of your Google or Bing search results. They are standard search engine advertisements. There are two ways in which ads are displayed in search engines. (Depending on the search engine used, the word "sponsored" or "ad" is used to indicate ads.) A group of FBI officials is warning about fake ads, that are paid for by criminals. It uses similar domain names, as well as links to legitimately appearing web pages that are similar to the official website of the impersonated business.
It is disappointing to discover, that the FBI's release on this scam is surprisingly light on details, but it does propose a few ways to avoid becoming a victim.
How to avoid these rogue ads?
Generally, the FBI advises people to follow the following guidelines:
- To ensure the authenticity of a website, you should check the URL before clicking on an advertisement. Generally, malicious domain names are similar to the intended URL but can have typos or misspelled letters similar to the intended URL.
- To access a particular business's official website directly from an Internet browser's address bar enter the URL of the company’s official website instead of searching for the company online.
- When you are performing Internet searches, it is a good idea to use an extension that blocks ads. Internet browsers allow users to add extensions to their browsers, which can include extensions to prevent advertisements and other forms of advertisement. In a browser, one can toggle between these ad blockers. This means that advertisements can appear on certain websites while they are blocked on other websites. This depends on what the website is about.
For businesses, the FBI has the following advice:
- To avoid spoofing domains, businesses can use domain protection services to alert them to the registration of similar domain names.
- Users are advised to be aware of spoofed websites and to confirm the correctness of the URLs they are directed to when visiting them.
- Provide users with information about where they can find legitimate downloads of the company's software.
Are shady ads out of control or a step too far?
Blocking advertisements remains a controversial topic in some quarters, as noted by Techspot. The odds are that many of the sites you use rely on advertising revenue to keep the lights on. However, others are moving towards subscriptions, paywalls, and other kinds of models to make money.
To block ads in their browsers, some people and organizations use dedicated ad blocker extensions, while others prefer script blocker apps that provide additional options. In addition to blocking ads, some companies use security tools to detect and neutralize exploits and malvertising campaigns.
Faulty ads cluttering up sponsored search results, no matter what your approach or opinion is towards paid advertising online, will be a problem for quite a while to come. What the FBI released might indeed make people think that fake listings in search results are a new threat. However, the truth is that this is nothing new. Despite this, criminals are well aware that it works and that it often results in success.
It is very important to pay attention to those paid results that are at the top of your search engine results page. This is when you are shopping around or looking for financial advice and services. You may be able to save yourself a few hours of annoying calls to customer support by taking a few minutes to consider the situation.