What are the biggest online scams to watch out for in November?

With the season of giving upon us, Google is giving some advice on which scams to be extra wary of right now. The company’s Trust and Safety team released an advisory on Nov. 6 with a list of scams it is seeing the most online, and how to avoid them.

One way scammers are trying to trick people out of their hard-earned cash is with fake job postings. Some require upfront “training” or “processing” fees, while others even conduct a fake interview to steal ID or bank information. Another popular scam capitalizes on the heightened demand for new AI tools, with fraudsters offering free versions of popular AI platforms that instead install malware or steal entered info.

In a similar vein, people should also be on the lookout for VPNs that purport to be from reputable brands. Many are posing as legitimate tools and then installing malicious software or stealing credentials. Fraud recovery and review extortion are also popular right now. With the former, bad actors posing as investigators or government agencies promise to recover stolen funds, while with the latter, scammers “review-bomb” businesses with fake negative reviews and then demand a ransom to make them stop. And of course, holiday shopping scams are a big one this time of year, so be wary of messages about great deals and sudden deliveries. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.