Search Engine Scams

Are you looking to pay a bill, renew your license, or get in touch with customer support? For many consumers, their first thought is to Google it.

Search engines are incredibly convenient, helping us to quickly find contact info for companies and agencies, compare prices between stores, and find customer support for apps, banks, or retailers.

Yes, search engines are powerful shortcuts to information, but not everything that appears in results is actually safe.

Why? Because scammers are increasingly buying their way to the top of search results with paid ads designed to mimic trusted brands, government agencies, or familiar services.

The Scammy Side of Search

Scammers exploit the fact that many people click the first link they see. They pay for ads to appear at the top of the page, often mimicking the look and language of official sources. This lets them pull off highly convincing impersonator scams.

These deceptive ads or links might:

Feature a fake phone number labeled as “customer support”
Use a trusted brand’s name or logo in the ad title
Lead to a lookalike/clone website that collects your login or payment info
Offer “urgent” help with taxes, tolls, or tech issues

Their goal is simple: trick you into clicking, calling, or paying — then steal your personal or financial information.

Here are some examples to give you a bit of perspective on some of the scam scenarios:

A traveler looking to pay a missed toll lands on a fake payment portal — and hands over their credit card to scammers.
Someone searching “IRS contact number” clicks the top result, which connects them to a scammer demanding a fake tax payment.
A user Googles “Facebook support” and ends up granting remote access to a hacker pretending to be from Meta.

How to Avoid Scammy Search Results

Scammers rely on a sense of urgency and misplaced trust. Here’s how you can stay one step ahead:

1. Never Assume the Top Result Is the Right One

Paid ads show up first — but they aren’t always what you’re really looking for. Scroll past the ads to find the real, unpaid (organic) results.

2. Be Skeptical of Phone Numbers in Search

Need to call your bank or a government office? Use the number on an official document or their verified website — not one you found in a search snippet.

3. Double-Check URLs

Hover over links before clicking. Does the domain look off? Is it full of dashes or weird characters? If you're unsure, take a few extra seconds to verify.

4. Go Straight to the Source

If you know the company or agency name, type the official web address directly into your browser. Don’t let a search engine be the middleman.

5. Use Scam-Spotting Tools for Extra Protection

This is where tools like Bitdefender Scamio and Bitdefender Link Checker come in.

Bitdefender Scamio is your AI-powered ally in the fight against scams. If you’re ever unsure about a link, ad, email, or message, just send it to Scamio — it will tell you if it's likely a scam. No installation needed, and it’s free to use via web, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Discord.

You can also use Bitdefender Link Checker to automatically checks links before you click them. It can warn you if the link leads to a malicious or phishing site — making it a powerful shield against scammy search results and fake websites.

Falling for a fake link in a search result isn’t just frustrating — it can lead to identity theft, financial loss, and malware infections. And with scammers refining their tactics daily, the risks are only growing.

If you do encounter a suspicious ad or fake result: