March 31, 2008 – A current “phishing” email scam is targeting advertisers using the Google AdWords program.
The emails ask AdWords advertisers to click a link to verify account information or credit card numbers. The emails look very official and may appear to come from support@google.com andadwords-noreply@google.com.
Clicking the link in the email will take you to a page that resembles Google, but it is really a fake page on another server designed to trick you into sharing account information or credit card numbers.
All authentic communications from Google AdWords are sent to OnYourMark, LLC on our clients’ behalf. If a credit card number or account data needs to be changed, OnYourMark, LLC will notify you. If you receive any emails that appear to be from Google AdWords or ask for data from your Google AdWords account, please Contact Us. We are happy to help!
To learn more about “phishing,” please see our January 2004 Ask-the-Pro article, “What is phishing?”
Sample Messages
Dear Google AdWords Customer,Please sign in to your account at http://adwords.google.com/select/login, and update your billing information.
Your account will be reactivated as soon as you update your payment information. Your ads will show immediately if you decide to pay for clicks via credit or debit card. If you decide to pay by direct debit, we may need to receive our signed debit authorization before your ads start running, depending on your location.
If you choose bank transfer, your ads will show as soon as we receive your first payment.
We look forward to providing you with the most effective advertising available.
Sincerely,
The Google AdWords Team
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Dear Google AdWords Customer,
Your ads have stopped running because we were unable to process your billing information. We will reactivate you account after you update your billing information. In order to reactivate your account, please sign it to your account at http://adwords.google.com/select/login, and update your billing information. Once your account is reactivated and your billing information has been processed, any your ads and campaigns can begin running immediately on Google.
You will not be asked to submit your billing information every time you create a new ad or campaign. If your payment has been declined and you’d like to resubmit the same credit card information, you may also do so by clicking the Retry card button on your Billing Preferences page. After updating your credit card information (regardless of whether or not you use a different card), it can take up to 24 hours before your ads start running again. You also have the option of providing a backup credit card to help ensure that your ads run continuously in the case that your primary payment method fails.
Sincerely,
The Google AdWords Team
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Dear Google AdWords Customer,
Your ads have stopped running because we were unable to process your billing information.
We will reactivate you account after you update your billing information.
In order to reactivate your account, please sign it to your account at http://adwords.google.com/select/login, and update your billing information. Once your account is reactivated and your billing information has been processed, your ads and campaigns can begin running immediately on Google.
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