This is getting crazy.  The phishing scams are hitting my inbox every few days.

Below is the latest email citing my MCC (My Client Center) to be in need of immediate attention because one of my clients accounts stopped running.

adwords mcc phishing scam email December 10, 2009

To Report phishing scams to Google visit this form or forward the email to phishing@google.com.

Other recent posts on AdWords Phishing Scams:

http://www.adwordshelpexperts.com/2009/11/beware-google-adwords-phishing-scam/

http://www.adwordshelpexperts.com/2009/12/adwords-phishing-scam-december-2009/

Posted by: Kim Clinkunbroomer, G.A.P.

Tis the season?

I don’t know about you, but I have been receiving more AdWords phishing scam emails then ever.

Today’s email was another clever attempt at tricking someone to share their login details. The subject “Your AdWords Ads have stopped running!” is followed by a message stating:

“Your ads have stopped running today (Monday, 7 December 2009). We had encountered a number of problems with some of our servers that crashed this morning and at this time we cannot check to see what customer accounts are now running 100%.”

Full email below:

AdWords Phishing Email - Your ads have stopped running today (Monday, 7 December 2009). We had encountered a number of problems with some of our servers that crashed this morning and at this time we cannot check to see what customer accounts are now running 100%.

People are taken to a fake login page where they can potentially give away their login details and access to their AdWords accounts.

The phishing scams I have been receiving are addressed to :undisclosed recipients and do not reference any account information such as login or a customer identification number.  Beware of any emails that don’t address you personally.

For those of you managing accounts for clients you may want to give them a heads up to beware and scrutinize emails that appear to be from Google.

To Report phishing scams to Google visit this form or forward the email to phishing@google.com

Posted by: Kim Clinkunbroomer GAP, AdWords Top Contributor.

New email received 11/24/2009. Appears to be from Google AdWords.  The email claims that irregular activity was detected on the account and immediate attention was necessary.

Phishing Scam

The link takes visitors to a fake, yet convincing, sign in page asking the member to log in.  This is the point where you hand over your log in details to the scammer.

Fake Google AdWords Login Page

To Report phishing scams to Google visit this form or forward the email to phishing@google.com

Posted by: Kim Clinkunbroomer ‘Clink’, G.A.P.

Google Takes a Stand….Finally.

Apparently on the heels of the Federal Trade Commissions suit announced July 1, 2009 (details below) Google has been messaging specific Google AdWords accounts as suspended with the following reason: “Promoting Google Money Tree or ads that promote a misrepresented affiliation with Google. Due to multiple complaints from our users and publishers, we’ve made the decision not to accept these ads.“.

Here is a copy of the full suspension message:

“Subject: Your AdWords account: Account Suspension

Message:
It’s come to our attention that you have submitted ads that promote Google Money Tree or ads that promote a misrepresented affiliation with Google. Due to multiple complaints from our users and publishers, we’ve made the decision not to accept these ads.

This is a notification that your account has been suspended due to the submission of these ads and your ads will no longer run on Google. Please note that future accounts you open will also be suspended.

As noted in our Terms and Conditions, Google reserves the right to terminate advertisements for any reason. To view our Terms and Conditions, please visit https://adwords.google.com/select/tsandcsfinder.

We appreciate your cooperation.

Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043

You have received this mandatory email service announcement to update you about important changes to your AdWords product or account.“

…

In a related article – reported Wednesday July 1, 2009

‘Google Money Tree’ one of dozens of companies named in FTC, state attorneys’ suits against companies running money-making schemes

“The Federal Trade Commission and 13 states, including Ohio, targeted companies trying to take advantage of hard times by offering consumers everything from nonexistent jobs to phony grants, investments and money-making opportunities.

Among those targeted in 44 law enforcement actions announced today was Google Money Tree, which despite the name, is not affiliated with Google.

The FTC’s suit accused Google Money Tree of getting consumers to divulging account information with promises that a low-cost kit could help them earn $100,000 in six months. What the company didn’t clearly reveal, the FTC said, was that signing up for the kit automatically triggered monthly charges of $72.21.” for the full article.

Link to Court Documents

Why Now?

At long last Google has decided to take a stance and has begun to suspend advertising to individuals promoting the Google Money Tree or similar advertising where Google’s name is used a as misrepresented affiliation.   I am not sure when the messaging began.  It may be a direct response to the FTC’s suit.  I have asked Google for a comment on this new messaging and will report back with details when and if they become available.

This came to my attention while visiting the AdWords help forum where I work as a Top Contributor.  There are quite a few angry members at present.  Some not even aware that the affiliate program the signed up for was a scam.  Some others may have been caught in error because there are many complaints from advertisers claiming that they are not promoting anything like a money making program.

If you feel that you have been a victim of Google Money Tree or another outfit claiming a misrepresented affiliation with Google report it to Google.

Also report it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) know.

UPDATE: Google has commented (kinda) through the official Google Blog.

———————————

Author: Kim Clinkunbroomer “Clink”, G.A.P.

You may find that your AdWords account shows increases and decreases in spending. Both are worrying. This article is about the likely causes of unexpected increases in spending and what you can and should do about it.

Do Not Click On Links In Emails About AdWords

If You Need To Check AdWords, Type The URL Directly In The Browser Bat

https://adwords.google.com/

The main causes for sudden increases in spending are that you have told Google to optimise on your behalf, or a news item is unexpectedly sending people to search, or there’s a seasonality, or that adverts stuck in editorial review have been released, or that your account is subject to either click fraud or theft.

Have You Recently Told Google To Manage Your Spending?

There are a variety of ways to manage your account. Google offers you the choice of using their own bid management tools to optimise conversions, or to spend to a budgeted amount. If you recall seeing screens offering you help in optimising your budget or your cost per acquisition – you may have told Google to spend on your behalf. We will be offering an article about Bid Optimisation and the effects.

News Explodes Search

Every so often, some news item will provoke a lot of search on a previously quiet keyword. Look for patterns of suddenly high impression rate keywords, which may decline almost as abruptly. We’ve seen cases where a single TV show can provoke an entire months normal spend in a few hours – if the search query is spot on for an unusual term mentioned in the news.

Seasonality

“Stop Smoking” resolutions and campaigns focus on the last week or so of the year, and the first few weeks of the year. Outside that period, the search volume is much, much smaller. Consider whether you have something similar (“Thanksgiving meals”, “turkey dinners”?).

Adverts Released From Editorial Review

If you have recently started your account, or you have recently changed advertisements, you will have triggered “Editorial Reviews”. Your adverts will not run, or will only run slowly while they are under review. When the review is satisfactorily completed, your adverts will be released for full running. This can result in a factor of ten increase in daily spend, or even more under some conditions

Click Fraud

You might sometimes see otherwise unexplained increases in impressions and clicks. This does not mean that you have click fraud. It may be as simple as a local news item triggering searches, that you aren’t aware of.

Theft

If you think you’ve turned off advertising, but suddenly start seeing bills, or if you see marked increases but can’t identify the causes, you may be suffering from theft – or you simply don’t know where to look to see the spending. We have some articles covering “where’s my spending going?”. Before you assume theft, just make sure that are looking at all the data!

If you find new campaigns, adgroups, adverts and keywords sending visitors to sites you don’t recognise – your account has been compromised and you should take immediate action. See the article “What Do I When I Find An AdWords Thief?”

Professional Assistance

AdWords Help Experts have access to Google help, and experience in handling and diagnosing problems. If you are uncertain or want a second opinion, or if you’d like someone else to handle the problem on your behalf, please do contact one of the experts here. Fees to investigate and accelerate results are usually in the range of ten to thirty US Dollars; setting up replacement advertising may be more expensive depending on the complexity you need. Some of us also offer services for monitoring our client accounts for problems.

You are most likely to become aware of problems with your account when you get an unexpected bill from AdWords on your credit card or bank statement. This can be frighteningly large. The good news is that Google is being generous to advertisers at the moment, and is suspending payments and repaying stolen funds. However, that doesn’t mean that you should wait – as soon as you detect a problem, you *must* act.

Do Not Click On Links In Emails Warning You About AdWords Problems.

Do Type The URL of Google AdWords Directly In The Browser Bar

https://adwords.google.com

You won’t *directly* end up out of pocket. As well as giving you advice on what to do after you detect abuse, we offer another article about what you should do while the account theft is being investigated by Google.

Some of the AdWords Help Experts offer monitoring and management services that can either directly monitor your account for abuse, or monitor the account as a side effect of other AdWords activity. Here is a description of the signatures that we look for, when we’re investigating a possibly abused account. If you see these, then you should be suspicious and should alert Google or contact your advertising professional services immediately. We have another article describing what you should do, if you do find that your account has been compromised.

• Spending increases – perhaps from nothing
• Notifications disabled
• New Campaigns you don’t remember
• New AdGroups you don’t remember
• New Adverts you don’t remember
• New Keywords you don’t remember
• New Destination URLS you haven’t added

We have one additional concern – Phishing Scams. We expect that the next sneaky trick will be to send you alerts that your account has been compromised, and offering you a link in the email to check your account. Chances are that this link will, itself, lead to a scammers site who will offer a good copy of the AdWords site, where you’ll hand over your account name and password directly to the thieves.

Do Not Click On Links In Emails Warning You About AdWords Problems.

Do Type The URL of Google AdWords Directly In The Browser Bar

https://adwords.google.com/

At the moment we’re seeing a lot of people asking for help with AdWords Accounts where someone else has stolen from the account, by adding their own advertisments. This article is part of a series contributed by the AdWords Help Forum Experts, to help victims of theft.

• How Can I Tell If My Account Is Being Abused
• How Do I Stop More Theft?
• Who Do I Tell About The Theft?
• How Much Has Been Stolen?
• How Can I Keep Advertising While The Theft Is Investigated?
• What Can I Do To Protect My Account In The Future?

Commercial Assistance.

You can use the free resources we list above. We’re professional AdWords Consultants. We have contacts at Google, tools, techniques and experience dealing with Google AdWords, that speed up sorting out the problems. The following AdWords Help Experts offer paid assistance in investigating and resolving theft:

• JezC
• MrsC
• Lakatos