...
By Thomas Westerholm
Life & Trends Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A man who was trying to set up a Google profile for his business clicked a deceptive link, and when he shared what happened next, social media users were sympathetic and horrified on his behalf.
Reddit user Questionaccount2022 shared his experience with the r/MacOS forum, explaining how falling for a scam and hacking attempt left him feeling highly concerned.
"I was unfocused and multitasking and honestly just let my guard down for the first time in a while," he explained in the post, adding that he "clicked the first link I saw on Google which was a total scam. I feel sick to my stomach just knowing I fell for this."
Read More on Pets
...
'No place on our platforms'
In the screenshots accompanying his post, the original poster (OP) showed what appeared to be a sponsored result from Google that led him to a URL that included the misspelled domain "goolge" followed by a realistic-looking pop-up from the scammers.
"The verification steps were so weird, but I thought it was a new anti-Al [CAPTCHA] method so I followed through and ran the command," he said.
In a comment, the OP added: "My dyslexia screwed me so bad."
Fortunately, after receiving a prompt for his administrative password, the OP noticed the red flags and restarted his Mac without putting in his password, which he said was "my saving grace."
In an email to Newsweek, a Google spokesperson said: "Malware has no place on our platforms, and we’ve suspended this advertiser for violating our policies.”
The spokesperson added that Google has been battling scammers since the early days of the internet, and that the company invests heavily in enforcing policies to keep users safe.
When scammers evade detection, users should follow Google's publicly available methods of spotting and reporting them.
'The biggest line of defense'
In a message to Newsweek, the OP identified himself as a late 20s tech worker living in the United States.
He said he wasn't paying close attention when he clicked the link.
However, "the actual dumb part on my end was copying the command that it gave me," he said. "I seriously thought it was some kind of advance anti-AI CAPTCHA method that was untraditional. That’s where I was so dumb."
The placement of the ad, however, was confusing, and the mechanics of the scam tricked him into falling his muscle memory.
"Totally my fault. I can definitely see vibe coders falling into this," he added.
Roughly 48 hours later, he said nothing much has happened after wiping his Mac clean and locking all of his important accounts.
"I hope my data wasn’t exfiltrated," he said. "I didn’t fall for the fake malware prompts asking for my password so I think that’s what saved me."
His message for other users: "Never use the command line without understanding the input. It’s the biggest line of defense that all people say. I even thought I would never fall for something like this. Verify everything."
He also recommended that users never trust Google's top results blindly.
"This type of attack is called AMOS infostealer, and it’s been targeting Mac users for the past two years," he added. "Very dangerous as it steals a ton of personal data and can bypass passwords and 2FA, [which] means you're absolutely f***ed if you don’t realize it."
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines