Scam related to Google Assistant's infecting support number

Using Google Assistant on your smartphone or on your smart speaker can simplify your life. However, a recently linked Internet support number scam uses our dependency on Google Assistant to put us in the crosshairs of the fraudster.

The Business Ethics Bureau has issued a warning ticket on two individual cases of people trapped by this scam related to the support number. There are probably many more cases, though.

The scam starts with someone who asks Google Assistant (or Alexa, or Siri, or any other virtual assistant) to search for and dial the customer support number of a company. The assistant conducts a search, dials a number and places the person in contact with a "customer support representative".

However, this helpdesk representative is actually a fraudster who can now try to get the victim to search money.

The best way to avoid this scam is to manually search and dial the customer support numbers.

One of the people used by the Business Ethics Bureau as an example of this scam asked a virtual assistant to call the helpline from a major airline. She just wanted to change seats on her next flight, but the person on the phone tried to convince her to buy prepaid gift cards worth $ 400, insisting that the airline organized a special promotion.

How do the fraudsters cheat the assistants? It's really simple: fraudsters try to get a fake support number at the top of Google search results (usually paying for ads). When a virtual assistant searches for a specific support number, he enters that false result and passes the call. If the call request is transmitted via a smart speaker, such as Google Home, the victim does not even know which number was dialed and simply assumes that the person at the other end of the call Call is a trusted employee of the company in question.

The best way to avoid this scam regarding support numbers is to search and manually dial support numbers. Stay safe outside!