Google is warning users about the new hacker scam

A new hacker scam is hitting Gmail users, with Google issuing a warning telling potential victims to block the email sender and report it as spam.

The hacker scam uses Google’s brand name and says “Online Rewards Program” in the email subject line. Users who opened it saw that they owed a reward for performing 18.25 billion searches on Google.

“Congratulations! You are the lucky Google user! Every 10 million searches worldwide, we will announce 1 lucky user to send a thank you gift. You are the lucky user!”, the message says.

The scam continues, since there is a link at the end of the email, users are encouraged to click on it to claim the… Google Prize. However, in this way hackers can access the user’s personal data and use it to steal money from them.

“The pop-up may also ask you to enter your email or other personal information. Google does not offer automatic prizes in this way and you will not win a prize by completing a survey or entering your personal information. Close the pop-up and do not enter your personal information,” Google says in its advice. .

Google also mentioned some “golden rules” for safe browsing, such as:

• take your time Scams are often designed to create a sense of urgency. Take the time to ask and reflect on questions.
• Inspection from time to time Do your research to double check the details you receive. Does what they tell you make sense?
• Stop! do not send – No trustworthy person or agency will immediately ask for your payment or personal information.

With information from the Daily Star