Google Drive Phishing Scam
Brookhaven, GA, April 3, 2015 – by Trey Benton – It’s Back. And it’s making its way around Brookhaven. It’s called the “Google Drive Phishing Scam.”
You may or may not have received an email from someone you know or someone that has your email address in their list of contacts, has sent or received an email from you or has shared files with you through Google Drive.
The email is known to use the subject line, “Download My Secured Document.”
An article from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) from last year, explains that sophisticated scammers have created a fake Google log-in screens that is actually hosted on the company’s servers.
Watch out for scam Google Drive emails that prompt you to enter your username and password into this look-alike form.
Have you been affected?
The BBB says this is how the Scam Works:
Someone sends you an email with a notice that someone shared a Google Doc with you, and you can access it by clicking on a link. If you click through, you are taken to an exact copy of the Google log-in page.
The scam email we have seen has the message body saying, “Google Drive. Keep Everything, Share Anything. I just send you documents, CLICK HERE to download the file.” (Yes, the wording is messed up in the actual email)
The bogus log-in form prompts you to enter your Google username and password or phone number, etc. The data is sent to the scammer’s server, but you are redirected to a real Google Doc. This means you are probably unaware anything even happened!
According to the BBB, the scammers are using an actual Google Drive account to host the scam file, which lends a legitimizing Google.com URL to their con. Inputting your email and password into the fake form gives scammers access to your Google Drive, Gmail and any personal information stored within.
What does Google say you can do to protect yourself?
Google says you should always be wary of any message that asks for your personal information, or messages that refer you to a webpage asking for personal information. One thing to be sure of: Google or Gmail will never ask you to provide this information in an email; if the message asking for it claims to be from us, don’t believe it.
Here are a few ways Google says you might recognize scam messages:
- They ask you to provide your username and password or other personal information (e.g. Social Security number, bank account number, PIN number, credit card number, mother’s maiden name, or birthday). Even if they appear to be from a legitimate source, or contain an official-looking webpage, be careful. Spammers often ask for this information in an attempt to steal your Gmail address, your money, your credit, or your identity.
- You might see a warning from Gmail when you open one of these messages. These phishing alerts operate automatically, much like spam filtering. Gmail’s spam filters automatically divert messages that are suspected of being unwanted messages into ‘Spam’. Similarly, Gmail’s phishing alerts automatically display warnings with messages we suspect are phishing attacks so you know to exercise caution before providing any personal information.
Google’s tips to protect yourself and stop fraudsters:
- Check the email address of the sender of the message by hovering your mouse cursor over the sender name and verifying that it matches the sender name.
- Check whether the email was authenticated by the sending domain. Open the message and click on the drop-down arrow below the sender’s name. Make sure the domain you see next to the ‘mailed-by’ or ‘signed-by’ lines matches the sender’s email address. For more information on email authentication, please visit Goggle’s Email Authentication article.
- Make sure the URL domain on the given page is correct, and click on any images and links to verify that you are directed to proper pages within the site. For example, the Gmail URL is http://mail.google.com/ or, for even more security, https://mail.google.com/. Although some links may appear to contain ‘gmail.com,’ you may be redirected to another site after entering such addresses into your browser.
- Always look for the closed lock icon in the status bar at the bottom of your browser window whenever you enter any private information, including your password.
- Check the message headers. The ‘From:’ field is easily manipulated to show a false sender name. Learn how to view headers.
- If you’re still uncertain, contact the organization from which the message appears to be sent. Don’t use the reply address in the message, since it can be forged. Instead, visit the official website of the company in question, and find a different contact address.
- If you enter your Google account or personal information as the result of a spoof or phishing message, take action quickly. Send a copy of the message header and the entire text of the message to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov. If you entered credit card or bank account numbers, contact your financial institution. If you think you may be the victim of identity theft, contact your local police.
- Gmail doesn’t send unsolicited mass messages asking for passwords or personal information. If you think your Gmail address has been compromised or taken over, please click here so Google can help resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
* If Google’s system flags a message as phishing, but you’ve validated the source from which the message originated, click the down arrow next to Reply at the top-right of the message pane, and select Report Not Phishing to let us know the message is legitimate. And if you receive a message that Google’s phishing detection system doesn’t pick up on, click Report Phishing to send a copy of the message to the Gmail Team.
** Portions of this Post are from the Better Business Bureau article here as well as Google.com support document on ‘messages asking for personal information.’