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Ads are impersonating government websites in Google results, despite ban

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Re: Ads are impersonating government websites in Google results, despite ban

#141

Post by 7952 »

sen wrote: post #5

I teach everyone in my family to never trust the first few sponsored results now matter how convincing they may be. As far as I’m concerned Google know exactly what they’re doing and are actively complicit in perpetuating online scams against one family and friends. Are we seriously supposed to believe a company of their size, with their talent pool, and their money, can’t filter out such blatantly obvious crap? Sure…

Of course the whole point of a search engine is to try and surface useful websites and filter out the obvious crap. And the objective of an ad is to subvert that process. And even in ideal situations they give almost no information to the user about what they actually are clicking.

Re: Ads are impersonating government websites in Google results, despite ban

#142

Post by gbear605 »

tialaramex wrote: post #107
wutbrodo wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea I'm very curious about this too. Oddly enough, it's not the first time I've heard someone on HN complain about a search query being hard for Google to answer, tried it, and found the answer in the first result (and the next half dozen).

Humans are lazy. It would be more effort, after constructing their argument, to actually sit down and test that the argument passes a basic sense test. So, they don't. And most of the people reading (and upvoting to signal "I agree") won't either. Why should they? They agree with it, there's no sense in fact checking things you agree with, right? You can see this in the recent Google 2FA threads too, lots of people w…

In this case, you’re the courtier of King Cnut. I just did the search and the first correct result is the sixth and the first five are incorrect, including the seemingly definitive answer at the top of the search.

Re: Ads are impersonating government websites in Google results, despite ban

#143

Post by YetAnotherNick »

techrat wrote: post #106
FriedrichN wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People think I'm paranoid checking domains, certificates, and bank numbers but it's a small price to pay as you found out. You lost $250, some lose thousands. This stuff needs to be regulated, companies like Google need to be held accountable for what they serve up to users. No more hiding behind this shield of "we're just a platform" when they damn well know they're the platform. It's all fun and games until your (g…

> This stuff needs to be regulated, Regulated? Fraud is illegal. It needs to be PROSECUTED.

How will you prosecute them? Not only most scammers are nameless, but most are from countries where government needs to fix lot of things before they are effective against scammers.

Re: Ads are impersonating government websites in Google results, despite ban

#144

Post by ocdtrekkie »

ad404b8a372f2b9 wrote: post #87
ahelwer wrote: post #37

I fell prey to this. Might have been the exact same website, too. Had had a drink with dinner, thought heck why not file for my EIN for an independent consulting LLC I was creating? Was using a fresh OS install where I hadn't yet installed Firefox with an adblocker. Usual defenses were weakened. Boom, $250 down the drain before I really thought it all through. Fortunately I was able to get it refunded by initiating a…

Another common one for new LLCs is threatening, official looking letters telling you you need a workplace safety poster or you will go to jail/pay monstrous fines. The law is real but only applies in very specific circumstances and the letters come from companies graciously offering to sell you overpriced posters. It freaked the hell out of my partner when we got that, had to explain to her at 3AM that we weren't goi…

What really stunned me was that in our state, the official website even has a statement letting you know about these fraudsters... but apparently they can't actually shut them down or stop them from mailing every new LLC? It's incredible how ill equipped we are to shut down scammers who have a nice downtown Chicago Loop address.

Re: Ads are impersonating government websites in Google results, despite ban

#145

Post by notyourday »

YetAnotherNick wrote: post #143
techrat wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This stuff needs to be regulated, Regulated? Fraud is illegal. It needs to be PROSECUTED.

How will you prosecute them? Not only most scammers are nameless, but most are from countries where government needs to fix lot of things before they are effective against scammers.

That's easy. Those scams operate because the countries/players have access to the US financial system.

You provide the incentives to the countries to fix their problem by cutting them completely off. If someone using a bank in Cyprus did it, you tell Cyprus government that in 48 hours the Fed will block all transactions with that bank and you block it. They move to another bank, you repeat it. Eventually Cyprus government ( and Cyprus banks ) have to make a choice - continue to tolerate scammers using their banks and be locked out totally out of the US financial system or crack down on the scammers.

Re: Ads are impersonating government websites in Google results, despite ban

#146

Post by dhimes »

knodi123 wrote: post #44
sen wrote: post #5

I teach everyone in my family to never trust the first few sponsored results now matter how convincing they may be. As far as I’m concerned Google know exactly what they’re doing and are actively complicit in perpetuating online scams against one family and friends. Are we seriously supposed to believe a company of their size, with their talent pool, and their money, can’t filter out such blatantly obvious crap? Sure…

One of my older relatives searched google for the name of his bank, clicked the first link which was an ad for a phishing site, and 5 minutes later he was on the phone with some indian guy who was using remote desktop to install packages through some janky DOS interface. It was probably cleanable, but I just wound up formatting his hard drive and reinstalling with some really cranked-up adblockers. It was an hours-lo…

I love that analogy.

Re: Ads are impersonating government websites in Google results, despite ban

#147

Post by YetAnotherNick »

notyourday wrote: post #145
YetAnotherNick wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How will you prosecute them? Not only most scammers are nameless, but most are from countries where government needs to fix lot of things before they are effective against scammers.

That's easy. Those scams operate because the countries/players have access to the US financial system. You provide the incentives to the countries to fix their problem by cutting them completely off. If someone using a bank in Cyprus did it, you tell Cyprus government that in 48 hours the Fed will block all transactions with that bank and you block it. They move to another bank, you repeat it. Eventually Cyprus gover…

While we are at it, let's also throw 2-3 nukes to the country in case they dont fix it.

Re: Ads are impersonating government websites in Google results, despite ban

#148

Post by 6510 »

6510 wrote: post #131
exporectomy wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In genuine scams, yes. But nobody will accidentally pay millions for a business license that's also available for free.

Ransom should work.

You don't have to like it. If the government asks for information you cant expect 100% to just say NO.

Re: Ads are impersonating government websites in Google results, despite ban

#149

Post by fortran77 »

ahelwer wrote: post #37

I fell prey to this. Might have been the exact same website, too. Had had a drink with dinner, thought heck why not file for my EIN for an independent consulting LLC I was creating? Was using a fresh OS install where I hadn't yet installed Firefox with an adblocker. Usual defenses were weakened. Boom, $250 down the drain before I really thought it all through. Fortunately I was able to get it refunded by initiating a…

I had a similar experience but I knew to stop when they asked for payment.

I'm well aware that EINs are free, having had about half-a-dozen of them for various businesses.

I googled something like IRS EIN and clicked the link. I saw a page that looked exactly like the IRS EIN page as I remembered it. I filled out my information. When I clicked submit, I saw a payment page. It was only then I realized I had been duped and looked at the domain.

Re: Ads are impersonating government websites in Google results, despite ban

#150

Post by techrat »

notyourday wrote: post #145
YetAnotherNick wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How will you prosecute them? Not only most scammers are nameless, but most are from countries where government needs to fix lot of things before they are effective against scammers.

That's easy. Those scams operate because the countries/players have access to the US financial system. You provide the incentives to the countries to fix their problem by cutting them completely off. If someone using a bank in Cyprus did it, you tell Cyprus government that in 48 hours the Fed will block all transactions with that bank and you block it. They move to another bank, you repeat it. Eventually Cyprus gover…

You're right. Dunno why you're getting downvoted.

Follow the money and report the issue to the institutions along the line. If they refuse to shut down the scammers and to stop facilitating their crimes, shut the institutions down for being an accessory.

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