Hacked.com has discovered a new scam that is flourishing online, involving the use of legitimate websites like Facebook.com, where scammers pose as official support agents.
The scam is clever, and we at Hacked.com are naming it the “Search Field Support Scam”.
We believe this is a new method that is growing among cybercriminals.
Watch the video below to learn how the scam works:
How the Facebook Support Scam Works
The scammers are using Google Ads to advertise for certain queries like “hacked facebook“. They are advertising a specific URL from Facebook that includes their phone number once clicked on.
When we click on the link shown in the image above, we are taken to Facebook’s own help center, but with the scammers’ message and phone number inserted into Facebook’s search field. This is accomplished by manipulating the URL. Information you add to the URL of https://www.facebook.com/help/search?helpref=search&query={insertTextHere} will be shown in the search field.
The question is: how does Google Ads allow a third party to pose as Facebook and even advertise Facebook’s help center with false information injected into Facebook’s text fields?
Here are just a few of the identified advertisers that have been verified by Google posing as Facebook:
AirCruise B.V. from the Netherlands.
Popularge from India.
Abishek Kumar Jha from India.
These Facebook Support Numbers are Fake
There are multiple people or organizations behind the Search Field Support Scam and they are using multiple phone numbers. Here are the ones we have found so far:
+1 833 582 4612
+1 844 200 1950
Do not contact these support numbers, as they will direct you to call centers in India where they will ask you to install a remote access app on your phone like “Iperius” allowing them to gain control of your device and start demanding ransom.