Once again, Google Ads finds itself entangled in controversy as scammers leverage the platform to push a fake iteration of a cryptocurrency website, ensnaring users in a phishing scheme aimed at siphoning their digital assets.

Reported by BleepingComputer, cybercriminals have devised a method to advertise a fraudulent rendition of Whales Market, an over-the-counter (OTC) crypto platform, through sponsored ads on Google's search results pages. Despite Google's purported screening mechanisms, the counterfeit website managed to bypass detection and prominently appears in search results, posing a significant risk to unsuspecting users.

The deceptive website, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the authentic Whales Market platform, redirects users to a malicious domain ([www.whaels.market]) upon interaction. Here, users' digital wallets become targets of malicious scripts designed to pilfer their cryptocurrency holdings.

This incident underscores a recurring trend of scammers exploiting Google Ads to perpetrate fraudulent activities. In a prior case, an unidentified hacker duped billionaire Mark Cuban into downloading a compromised version of MetaMask, resulting in the loss of nearly $900,000 worth of cryptocurrency.

While the masterminds behind this latest phishing campaign remain at large, Google has taken measures to combat such illicit endeavors. Earlier in April, the company initiated legal action against two individuals from China, Yunfeng Sun and Hongnam Cheung, for orchestrating fake crypto investment schemes via the Google Play store. The lawsuit unveiled that Google had deactivated 87 fraudulent apps linked to Sun and Cheung, collectively amassing nearly 100,000 downloads worldwide over the past four years.