Sophisticated Cybercriminals have devised a way to steal money from customers who are not tech-savvy. These scammers have been raking in millions of dollars since 2008 from their victims. These scammers are also known as Tech Support Scammers, and the practice has been proved to be quite profitable.
A report from 2008 suggested that most of the scammers originate from India, and their victims are usually from the US or UK.
How Google Support Scammers Operate
Once you learn how scammers operate, it would be easy to spot and avoid the scammers and be safe from being a victim and losing hundreds of Dollars.
If you are a UK resident and want to contact Gmail Support, you would be searching for the Gmail Support UK Toll-Free Number. But here’s the exciting part, if you do a Google search for the exact keyphrase, the top result that you will get would not be an official Gmail support (support.google.com); instead, the top search result would be the below-mentioned website:
https://www.uk-supportnumber.co.uk/gmail-service.php
If you have been a regular Gmail user, you might have found out that there is no toll-free number for Gmail, and you would have to contact the support staff by email or find answers to any of your questions in the Gmail Community.
So, the question arises that how can the website, as mentioned above, provide a Gmail Support UK Toll-free number? Even when Gmail itself doesn’t offer it to the users. Also, why only the UK and not the US?
If you check the Phone Number Provided by the company, it will show you that it is being used for scam purposes.
Once you call the number, a fake Gmail Support Agent will answer your call. And will ensure that you are having access to a laptop or a PC so that the agent can connect to your device via remote access. The agent will make up a story that either your Gmail account has been hacked or temporarily blocked due to unwanted access.
If you provide them with your device Access, these scammers might try to access your Gmail account via any malware or keyloggers. But if you insist on not granting them remote access outright, they might insist that you buy some tools so that they may secure your account from any cybercriminal, but those tools come with a fee. Either way, the Scammers will try their best to get any amount from you.
One Youtuber who Exposes Scammers, Jim Browning, has posted a video in which a fake Gmail support agency asks for payment for using some paid tools to unblock his Gmail account. You can watch the whole interaction from this link.
How To Avoid Gmail Scams
Google has earned a trusted brand name by providing the best user experience. But Cybercriminals sometimes try to use the name of Google to scam and defraud others.
You can avoid these scammers by following the below-mentioned steps:
Reality Check: First, listen carefully to what the person on the other side of the call says and think about it yourself that the person’s details even make sense.
Be Slow: Scammers tend to speak in a state of urgency. You need to slow them down and understand everything that they are trying to tell you and take your time to ask questions and think it through.
Don’t Share: Remember, no renowned company ever asks for any personal information or payment of any kind on the spot.
How To Report A Scammer
If you have been in contact with a scammer or have been scammed, you might want to file a report with the appropriate authorities such as the Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.org).
You should also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about unfair and deceptive business practices.
You can visit the following website to file a complaint: https://www.ftc.gov/contact.
If the scammers are not from the US and you have located them via reverse phone number lookup, reverse IP lookup, or any other method, you can file it at https://www.econsumer.gov/.
How Can a Scam Website Reach To The Top Of Google Search Results?
Ranking a website on a Google search engine is done by specialized techniques known as Search Engine Optimization or SEO. The scammers would have to target specific keywords and use them repeatedly on their websites. Also, back-linking their pages to other websites and internal website links help improve your rank on Google.
Targeting multiple related keywords on different platforms and using famous blogging forums like Joomla, Blogspot, WordPress, and more to increase their search engine rank. Creating PDF files and Powerpoint presentations on different forums helped these scammers to rank their websites to the top.
Conclusion
Suppose you are facing any issues regarding Gmail services. In that case, you can look it up from Google’s Community Forum, and you can find a mode to connect to Google Customer Support Officer via EMail, Live Chat, or Phone call. Instead of searching for contact information on unsecured websites like the one mentioned in this article.
