Internet Safety Month: Search Results Aren’t Always Trustworthy

When consumers want information, advice, reviews, or resources, the first step for many is an internet search. Online search results can be very helpful and allow people to find what they’re looking for quickly and accurately. But the systems that produce those search results are also used by scammers to steer consumers in the wrong direction – possibly to a fraudulent or imposter website.

The goal of these scammers is to trick consumers into giving up their money or private information through a misleading website. This may happen through an online shopping scam, or a “business” that charges users large fees for government forms and paperwork that are either free or much cheaper through official websites.

For Internet Safety Month, DATCP is providing tips on how consumers can tell the difference between trustworthy and deceptive search results. There are two major ways search results can be manipulated by scammers: search engine optimization, and paid search results.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engines are the tools used to search the web, such as Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and others. They are programmed to display search results that are most likely to be what the user is searching for. However, these results can be influenced by legitimate businesses – as well as scammers – to make their websites appear first in search engines to maximize the visits they get. Scammers might use bots, key words and phrases generated by A.I., or paid services to boost their fraudulent websites in search results.

Paid Search Results

The first few results at the top of any search are usually advertisements that companies (or scammers) pay to appear when users make specific searches. They might use a legitimate company’s name, include the name of a government service, or use misleading tag lines to make users think the website belongs to someone else. Scammers might even put their phone number next to a trusted company’s name or on an imposter website to trick consumers.

To protect themselves, consumers should:

· Be aware that the first search results they see are not necessarily the “best results” for what someone is seeking. It may not be a legitimate website – but a scammer.

· Never assume that a phone number which appears in a search is real without further research.

· Type a company’s website address directly into the web browser, if it is known, rather than searching the company’s name. This helps users avoid imposter scammers.