The bad guys allegedly registered a slew of names that looked like Whale Market.
Through Google Ads, an online advertising network that allows companies to place ads on Google’s search engine results pages, it seems that Google is endorsing a malicious cryptocurrency website that leads consumers to a clone of a legitimate website that steals their cryptocurrency.
Attackers have found a way to promote a fake version of Whales Market, an OTC cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to trade airdropped tokens, according to a report by BleepingComputer.
A sponsored link for the phony version appears at the very top of Google search results, according to the study.
According to Cointelegraph’s research, Google is running ads for the fake Whales Market. Clicking on the link takes consumers to [www.whaels.market] rather than the real [www.whales.market] even if the domain address seems to be legitimate on the search results page.
A Google Ads-supported spoof of Whales Market The bad guys have apparently registered a number of domains similar to Whales Market, including the dormant [www.whaless.market], according to Google BleepingComputer.
In order to trick visitors into linking their digital wallets, the phony version mimics the design of the real Whales Market site. But when victims do it, harmful programs activate and steal cryptocurrency from their wallets.
Scammers have utilized Google’s platform to market misleading services, and this instance adds to that trend.
An instance of this is when an anonymous hacker stole approximately $900,000 worth of cryptocurrency from one of Mark Cuban’s hot wallets. Cuban is a wealthy investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks.
After nine months of stealing almost $59 million in cryptocurrency, scammers in December 2023 used a wallet-draining service known as “MS Drainer” to steal the funds.
Con artists posed as legitimate cryptocurrency websites using Google Ads, luring unsuspecting users with bogus copies of well-known names including Radient, Zapper, Lido, Stargate, DefiLlama, and Orbiter Finance.
It seems like Google is doing something about the crooks, even if no one knows who is behind the latest phishing effort.
Google sued Yunfeng Sun and Hongnam Cheung, two Chinese citizens, in April for using the Google Play store to sell fake cryptocurrency investments.
The proliferation of wallet drainers is a serious issue on the Web3 network. The creator of the “Inferno” drainer announced his retirement in November 2023 after taking over $80 million from victims while the program was in use.
Another developer who declared their retirement in March was the creator of “Monkey Drainer,” a game that had taken almost $13 million at that time.
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