WATCH OUT FOR...
Fake Costco adverts on Google
Scams and threats to avoid, plus new security tools
What’s the threat?
Scammers are placing fake adverts for Costco on Google that appear when you search for paddling pools, as spotted by researchers at consumer group Which?. They started to appear in early May, coinciding with unseasonably warm weather.
The adverts appear in searches for ‘intex paddling pool’, with prices much cheaper than you’d normally have to pay. One advert is for a ‘Wild Tide Mega Inflatable Water Slide’, priced £56.09 including delivery (see screenshot left). Clicking the advert takes you to a site impersonating Costco. It encourages you to make a purchase with a sale countdown ( 1 in our screenshot right), and claiming it’s running low on stock 2 .