Scammers Mimic Crypto Recovery in Google Ads

Bad actors are utilizing Google Ads to imitate the Revoke Cash crypto recovery service, deceiving users into transferring their funds

Scammers are employing Google Ads to imitate the Revoke Cash crypto recovery service, directing users to a fraudulent website designed to take funds.

The fraudulent ads, which initially display the legitimate address “revoke. cash” in Google search results, were warned by analysts at blockchain forensic firm ScamSniffer in an X post on Sept. 13.

The ads redirect users to a deceptive website, “revokc-cash[dot]com,” designed to siphon off crypto funds from unsuspecting users.

Revoke Cash, established in 2019, is a recovery service intended to assist users in reclaiming lost or stolen crypto by safeguarding their accounts and revoking unauthorized access to their funds.

The most recent incident indicates a concerning trend in which malicious actors utilize Google’s advertising platform to promote counterfeit cryptocurrency websites.

In April, a similar scheme was implemented in which Google Ads promoted a fabricated version of the Whales Market, an over-the-counter crypto trading platform.

Users engaged with the advertisement were directed to a fraudulent website, “www.whaels.market,” where malicious scripts compromised their digital wallets.

The persistent vulnerabilities in online advertising systems are underscored by the ongoing exploitation of Google Ads for such schemes. Subsequently, Google appears to be responding to fraudsters.

The company filed a lawsuit against Yunfeng Sun and Hongnam Cheung, two individuals from China, in early April for allegedly engaging in fraudulent cryptocurrency investments through the Google Play store.

Google disclosed that it had deactivated nearly 90 fraudulent applications associated with Sun and Cheung over the past four years, cumulatively amassed nearly 100,000 downloads worldwide, even though the lawsuit did not specify the names of the implicated applications.