Over the past few weeks, many people are seeing a flood of phishing emails that look like they are coming from the Google AdWords program. Although they include typos, many small business owners who advertise on Google AdWords are wondering if this phishing emails are real?

Below you can see for yourself 4 different ways scammers target their victims.

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From: adwords-noreply@google.com
Subject: Your AdWords Google Account is stoped
Date: March 25, 2008 8:06:15 AM EDT
 

This message was sent from a notification-only email address that does not accept incoming email. Please do not reply to this message.

Dear Google AdWords Customer,

Please sign in to your account at http://adwords.google.com/select/login , and update your billing information. [This link actually goes to a scam site in China.]

Your account will be reactivated as soon as you update your payment information.

Your ads will show immediately if you decide to pay for clicks via credit or debit card. If you decide to pay by direct debit, we may need to receive your signed debit authorization before your ads start running, depending on your location.

If you choose bank transfer, your ads will show as soon as we receive your first payment.

We look forward to providing you with the most effective advertising available.

Sincerely,

The Google AdWords Team

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From: reactivation@google.com
Subject: The Google AdWords Team request you to update your
billing information
Date: March 28, 2008 5:03:21 PM EDT

Dear Google AdWords Customer,

Your ads have stopped running because we were unable to process your billing information. We will reactivate you account after you update your billing information. In order to reactivate your account, please sign it to your account at http://adwordsgoogle.com/select/login, and update your billing information. Once your account is reactivated and your billing information has been processed, any your ads and campaigns can begin running immediately on Google. [This link also goes to a scam site in China.]

You will not be asked to submit your billing information every time you create a new ad or campaign. If your payment has been declined and you'd like to resubmit the same credit card information, you may also do so by clicking the Retry card button on your Billing Preferences page. After updating your credit card information (regardless of whether or not you use a different card), it can take up to 24 hours before your ads start running again. You also have the option of providing a backup credit card to help ensure that your ads run continuously in the case that your primary payment method fails.

Sincerely,

The Google AdWords Team

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From: reactivation@google.com
Subject: Our programme terms have changed.
Date: April 4, 2008 2:57:16 PM EDT
 

Dear AdWords Customer,

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the Google AdWords programme for advertisers and users, we have updated our Terms and Conditions.

Please review the new Terms and Conditions below, then indicate your acceptance.

Yes, I accept the Terms and Conditions. [This includes a link to another phishing website.]

This message was sent from a notification-only email address that does not accept incoming email. Please do not reply to this message.

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If you have a question about any email like this that you receive, don't click on the link in the email. Instead, simply log into your account the way you normally do. If there is really a problem with your billing or other information, you'll see it when you log into your account.