Google ‘must clamp down on scam ads’

A STRONGER clampdown is needed to tackle scam adverts appearing on Google search results, according to Which?.

The consumer group said it had found fake ads for debt help charities and financial firms.

Which? found search results for common saving terms such as “top Isa”, “best bonds” and “best fixed rate bonds” contained dubious adverts for “investment finder” services encouraging people to fill in their details.

One victim lost £160,000 after clicking on an ad for what appeared to be an Aviva investment scheme. Despite trying to make sure the website was legitimate, they ended up speaking to a fraudster. They were reimbursed under a banking industry code which protects blameless bank transfer scam victims.

Jenny Ross, Which? money editor, said: “Despite introducing new measures to vet those advertising financial products or services, the grace period is a glaring loophole and we are calling for Google to remove this delay for advertisers in high-risk industries. It should also introduce clear and transparent labels for ads listed by unverified advertisers.”

A statement from Google given to Which? said: “Protecting users from ad scams and fraud is a key priority. To more effectively prevent predatory financial ads in the UK, we now require certain advertisers promoting financial products or services to complete our business operations verification programme.

“This will allow us to gain more information about the advertisers’ identity, business model and relationships with third parties so users can trust the ads they’re seeing.”