Google Maps becomes the latest app to be targeted by criminals with a sneaky scam to steal confidential data and empty bank accounts
- Contact information for businesses and banks are available on Google Maps
- It can easily be viewed and edited by any member of the public
- Scammers are replacing legitimate details with their own information
- They use this to coerce people into giving them confidential information
- Once they posses secure data they can access and empty bank accounts
Google Maps is being stealthily manipulated by scammers to deceive and con customers.
The site allows users to see certain information about a place or business and fraudsters are editing and deleting this before replacing it with their own details.
After a scammer inputs the fake credentials an unsuspecting customer will see the false information when searching for a specific place, like a bank.
Should a customer call the number they may believe they are through to a legitimate source but would instead be in direct contact with a would-be criminal.
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Google Maps allows users to see certain information about a place or business and fraudsters are editing and deleting this before replacing it with their own details in a bid to deceive people (stock)
A small information box appears on Maps when selecting for a certain place and this is open to editing by anyone.
It has been reported that more and more people are now targeting people in this way.
The added comfort a customer has when calling a number themselves puts them at greater risk of willingly giving up their credentials and exposing personal and sensitive data.
Speaking to The Sun, Adam Brown, manager of security solutions at Synopsys, said: 'It's possible for any user to suggest edits to any place on Google Maps.
There are however, several safeguard and procedures in place to prevent this from happening.
Someone trying to update a Maps page will have the inputted information subjected to scrutiny from Google.
'So for perpetrators to successfully update a phone number of a bank for example, they may have to rely on Google's local guides to OK the update,' Mr Brown added.
Someone trying to update a Maps page will have the inputted information subjected to scrutiny from Google. Google claims there are several safeguards in place to prevent the information being easily changed (stock)
'However it's very easy to become a local guide – anyone can do it, so perpetrators could easily organise local resources they control to do this.'
A Google spokesperson told The Sun: 'As soon as we were notified about the issue, the team worked quickly to address it.
'We have clear policies in place to ensure the quality of business profiles on Google. We take violations of these policies seriously and work fast to take appropriate action.
'We use manual and automated systems to detect for spam and fraud, but we tend not to share details behind our processes so as not to tip off spammers or others with bad intent.'
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