Internet Search Engine Scams

Officials with the state’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection say not all internet search engine results are trustworthy.

Michelle Reinen is the Administrator for the Division of Trade and Consumer Protection. She says legitimate businesses and scammers can influence search engines to make sure their websites appear near the top to maximize the visits they get.

She says scammers will use bots, key word searches, and phrases generated by A.I. to make their website return higher up. The same is true for paid search results. The first few results at the top of any search are usually advertisements that companies or scammers pay to appear when users make specific searches.

Reinen says if you know a company or business’s URL type that in and if you use it frequently bookmark it. She also cautions not to assume that a phone number that comes up in a search is real, research it.