There’s A Fake Google.com Out There And You Should Be Careful

Look at these two URLs: ɢoogle.com and Google.com, notice anything different? If you’re wondering why there seems to be something off about the first URL, it is because it uses a special character “ɢ” to mimic the “G” in Google.com, and this is actually a fake Google website that you need to be wary of.

This was originally discovered by the folks at The Next Web when they were combing through their Google Analytics data. According to another website, Analytics Edge, they claim that the goal of such websites is to spam Google Analytics in hopes that website owners who are curious about the appearance of such domains might click on them.

Exactly what happens when one visits such a website will probably vary from website to website, but we wouldn’t be surprised if installing malware is probably one of their goals. According to TNW, they discovered that the URL will actually lead you to “xn--oogle-wmc.com” which then redirects the user to a super long and obviously spammy URL, one that you probably shouldn’t click.

Now for all we know this could simply be a joke (you still shouldn’t take the chance and click on it all the same), but it does highlight how it is possible that hackers could register similar domain names for your bank, credit card companies, and more in an attempt to phish for sensitive information, so now that you’re aware, you’ll probably want to keep a closer eye on the URLs you click in the future.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Google, Hack, Security