Google Fake Crypto Ads Persist, Mimicking Uniswap Phishing Site Siphons $400K

BlockBeats News, May 26th, On-chain analyst "b-block" posted on social media that a fake Uniswap website is stealing funds from multiple wallets, with the scammer holding assets worth over $400,000. Web3 marketing agency Green Dots founder Stacy Muur shared a screenshot of fake sponsored search results, criticizing Google for overlooking this issue for years, allowing fake links to rank above genuine ones, leading to ongoing user theft.

According to Etherscan data, the two flagged addresses collectively hold around 146 ETH, valued at around $306,000. DeFiLlama pointed out that fake ads on Google are a common source of phishing attacks. The Cryptocurrency nonprofit organization Security Alliance (SEAL) reported in April that phishing activities on Google Search had "significantly increased" in March, with attackers using payment or hijacked legitimate ad accounts to display highly deceptive fake ads, using seemingly legitimate URLs to bypass Google's automated checks and loading malicious payloads through hidden iframes.

SEAL has blocked over 356 malicious ad links and stated that attackers' weekly deployment of Google ads has remained stable for over a year, with no slowdown in attack activities. Reportedly, between March 13th and 30th alone, a total of $1.27 million was stolen. Furthermore, earlier this month, there was also a shared chat using Google ads and AI chatbot Claude targeting Mac users with "malvertising" activities. A Malwarebytes report also highlighted Facebook as a hotspot for fake ads and scams.