In
the poor economic climate of 2009, more and more of the cash-strapped
jobless can, unfortunately, fall prey to even the most far-fetched
offers for quick and easy money.
Enticing job-hungry eyes with irresistible hooks like "Use Google to
Make 1000s of Dollars!" or "Easy Cash with Google: You Could be Making
up to $978 a Day Working from Home!" these sites have over the years
successfully scammed thousands of people into handing out their payment
information, which the sites then shadily charge with random fees.
In times of recession, the number of people scammed only multiplies.
Well, Google has had enough.
In addition to employing the same old tactics, like deindexing scammy
Web site URLs and permanently disabling malicious AdWords accounts,
Google
announced late Monday night that it has "filed suit against
Pacific WebWorks and several other unnamed defendants." While the
former tactics do help to some extent, Google says that at this point
only a lawsuit could seriously slow down scammers, who usually avoid
deindexing problems by simply switching to a new network under a
different name.
Offering some sage though standard advice, Google recommends that users
only hand out their financial information online as they do in reality
(that is, cautiously and with full awareness). Further, Google says to
be especially wary if a deal seems too good to be true.
Google says to be particularly careful of the following brand names, none
of which are affiliated whatsoever with the true Mountain View company:
Google Adwork, Google ATM, Google Biz Kit, Google Cash, Earn Google
Cash Kit, Google Fortune, Google Marketing Kit, Google Profits, The
Home Business Kit for Google, Google StartUp Kit, and Google Works.
Steven Loeb
