Scams and threats to avoid, plus new security tools
WATCH OUT FOR... Fake Lyca Mobile ads on Google
What’s the threat?
Lyca Mobile has become the latest company to be impersonated in fake adverts in Google search results. They were spotted by researchers at security firm Marcode, who informed consumer group Which?.
As Which? pointed out, the URL in the advert was correct ( 1 in our screenshot), but the company below was listed as ‘Lyc Mob UK’ 2 . Clicking the link actually took you to the URL ‘liyciad mophile.eu’, which imitates Lyca Mobile. It asks for your payment-card details to sign up for an account.
The scammers tricked Google into believing they were a genuine company by registering as ‘Vodafone Finance Management’ at Companies House. The adverts had nothing to do with either Lyca Mobile or Vodafone.
How can you stay safe?
These ads are the first fake ones we’ve seen for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), which are services that ‘piggyback’ on one of the four main UK networks. If you’re interested in Lyca Mobile, type www.lycamobile.co.uk into your browser’s address bar then press Enter. Doing this means you’ll bypass Google’s search results, and avoid fake results. For Tesco Mobile, the UK’s biggest MVNO, type www.tescomobile. com. For Giffgaff and Lebara it’s www.giffgaff.com and www.lebara.com.
Better still, try a search engine that doesn’t show ads, such as Brave Search (https://search.brave.com) – though this works only within Brave’s browser. Alternatively, try DuckDuckGo (https://duckduckgo.com) after turning off ‘Advertisements’ in Settings.
Finally, make a mental note that scammers have added MVNOs to their repertoire, along with fake parking apps (see Issue 674) and many programs including 1Password, 7-Zip, Audacity, Bitwarden, CCleaner, LibreOffice and VLC media player.
New tools KeePass 2.56
Bitwarden is our favourite free password manager for storing passwords online, but if you’d rather store them on your computer you need a downloadable program like the excellent KeePass.
The latest version (2.56) adds a few handy options that make it easier to use. Click Tools at the top, then Options, and you’ll see a new search bar at the b
