In this eye-opening episode, we break down a sophisticated new trend in tech support scams (TSS) that’s catching even the most cautious users off guard.
Scammers are now hijacking Google Ads and manipulating search results to funnel users—who are simply looking for help—to malicious phone numbers injected directly into legitimate websites like Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, and major banks. Clicking on what appears to be an official Google Ad can land you on a real brand page — but with a fake tech support number secretly inserted into the URL path or internal search results.
We’ll dive into:
- How scammers use Google Ads as a primary conduit for distributing rogue tech support ads.
- The alarming tactic of injecting fraudulent phone numbers into real company websites.
- Why even Fortune 500 companies are vulnerable to these attacks — with 86% of the top 50 companies affected.
- The shift from “aggressive” pop-up-based scams to “passive” professional-looking scam pages that evade detection for longer.
- How black hat SEO and support domains are driving long-lived scam infrastructure.
- The persistent financial motivation behind these scams — and why many victims end up giving remote access to their devices or sharing sensitive banking details.
We’ll also cover what law enforcement and cybersecurity experts are doing to counter this new wave of scams, why detection remains so challenging, and practical tips that users and defenders can take to protect themselves.
If you’ve ever searched for tech support online — or know someone who has — this is an episode you won’t want to miss.
