Did you know that online scammers are now using SEO to optimize fraudulent websites to achieve higher Google search rankings and extract sensitive information from unsuspecting people? Imagine searching for the customer care number of well-known organizations like Zomato or even EPFO and being conned of your money. Or wanting to start a business venture with dairy giant, Amul and being swindled of thousands if not lakhs of rupees. (Source: Economic Times) While Google and other search engines face the heat for not using more stringent measures to prevent such online fraud (some of these companies have even filed lawsuits against the search engines), there are things you can do to stay safe online.
As an Internet User, do not believe all that you see online. Do not ever click on suspicious, too-good-to-be-true email links or pop-ups, or grant remote access to your computer to those posing as customer care execs or technicians. And this is a no-brainer – do not give out any bank information, especially OTPs, internet banking passwords, UPI pins, etc. Ideally, do multiple searches and validate the information via multiple websites when you are doing a payment transaction of a new website.
As SEO professionals, we possess the skills to drive traffic to any website and deliver the best return on investment that a marketer can get from a digital channel. Let us use this knowledge for the benefit of the user and not for fraudulent companies.
As a Company, it is your responsibility to ensure that your website ranks better than these fraudulent websites that are taking advantage of your brand name. Staying ahead in the SEO game is much cheaper than tackling litigations with search giants.
Have you faced anything like what is mentioned in this post? Tell me in the comments section!
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