• by Ray Schultz , January 24, 2023

Advertisers using Google Ads are in danger of having their brands co-opted by spam messages promoting sex websites and scams.  

Threat actors are using “the Google Ads admin interface to send bulk email invitations that, coming from Google, bypass recipient spam filters,” Bleeping Computer alleges in an article.

The report continues that users around the world “are reporting receiving emails from authentic Google Ads accounts that are catching their attention.”

It adds, “These bogus invite emails, sent from Google's servers entice users to visit spam links contained in the email message.”

The URLs contained in these invite emails “ultimately redirected users to dodgy websites pushing adult dating sites, with many appear to be designed to collect personal information from visitors,” Bleeping Computer continues. 

Reporting the emails as spam may block legitimate emails from Google. 

Google responded to a query with this statement: "Our security teams are aware of this spam content and are working hard, as always, to stay ahead and keep our users safe. We have strict Google Ads policies against misrepresentation and have taken appropriate action. We encourage users to report messages when they receive emails containing spam links to help us take appropriate action on accounts involved in the spam."