by Dave Moore, CISSP
05/14/2023
Columns of the past two weeks have been prep work for what you read today. Knowing what search engines, Internet searches and browsers actually are and how they function is critical to staying out of trouble on the Internet. Today: how the Internet bad guys trick people into clicking the wrong thing using bogus search results, also known as “search spam.”
It works something like this. There you are, merrily computing away, when suddenly a problem arises. A program crashes, your screen locks up, or maybe something just doesn’t look right. Being the do-it-yourself type, you decide to see if you can take care of the problem on your own. Not really knowing what you are doing, though, you decide to “research” by searching the Internet about your problem. A good idea in theory, but, for you, because you don’t really understand how search engines and browsers work, that’s where it all starts to go downhill.
Based on your computers quirky behavior, you deduce that, because you use Microsoft Windows, Microsoft should be able to give you some good information in order to solve your problem. Not knowing how to contact Microsoft, you decide to do an “Internet” search to find their phone number. Again, a good idea in theory, but, for you, your movement down the slippery slope is gaining momentum.
While Google searches have gotten better about this sort of thing, Yahoo searches have not, and, because your email is with Yahoo and yahoo.com is your home page, you search with Yahoo. You type “Microsoft tech support” in the Yahoo search box and the sad sack search is on. Almost immediately, you are presented with numerous search results. You mindlessly click the first result in your search list, which proclaims, “Get tech support in home now!” At this point, the crazy train is rocketing downhill.
Not knowing where your click is taking you, you land on a website called justanswer.com. Surely, this must be the place! Why, there’s a photo of a young-ish fellow wearing nerdy glasses who is obviously a tech support guru. He is smiling and ready to help. There’s a chatbox featuring another smiling nerd who claims to be a “Microsoft Certified Expert.” What could go wrong?
But, you’ve learned to never bite the first baited hook, so you return to your Yahoo search, and click a different search result, which screams “Microsoft Tech Support 24/7 – Get Your Answer.” This click leads to ask-crew.com, which looks suspiciously similar to the JustAnswer guys. Handsome smiling nerdy guy. “Certified Experts.” A chatbox and an offer: “Get professional answers in minutes,” and a price: “Unlimited chats – $10 one week trial and cancel anytime.”
But, guess what? None of the top Yahoo search results actually lead to Microsoft. They are not “Microsoft Tech Support.” They are not “certified.” Their “experts” are not Microsoft experts. If you engage with them, you will not be talking to anyone who works for Microsoft. The downhill slide is complete. You have hit bottom, and you have been had.
Try this: do an actual Google search, at google.com. Search for “ask-crew.com,” and a different picture emerges. You will notice it’s not a very pretty picture, either. Do the same search for justanswer.com. Countless stories are recorded in which people call, thinking they are working with “official” Microsoft tech support folks, and giving their money to Microsoft, only to find they have been saddled with credit card charges that are very difficult to challenge, and their computer problems have not been fixed.
Strangely, the same holds for search results yielded by Microsoft’s own search engine called “Bing,” an actual Microsoft product. Their first search result when searching for “Microsoft tech support” is justanswer.com. The second search result is an actual Microsoft link. Go figure.
Still, that’s better than Yahoo. You won’t find a real link to Microsoft until you reach the sixth search result. Before you turn loose of your hard-earned bucks for “tech support” from any company, do some additional searching to make sure you are dealing with the company you actually had in mind, instead of a look-alike trickster.
Dave Moore, CISSP, has been fixing computers in Oklahoma since 1984. Founder of the non-profit Internet Safety Group Ltd, he also teaches Internet safety community training workshops. He can be reached at 405-919-9901 or www.internetsafetygroup.org