Scammers Will Try to Trick You Into Filling Out Google Forms. Don’t Fall for It

One of The less known applications in the Google Drive Online suite are the Google forms. It is an easy and intuitive way to create a web form so that other people can enter information. You can use it for employee surveys, for the organization of social gatherings, to give people a way to contact you, and much more. But Google forms can also be used for malicious purposes.

These forms can be created in a few minutes, with clean and clear official appearance images and videos, and above all, a real Google Docs URL with which your web browser will not see any problem. Schools can then use these authentic form forms to request payment details or connection information.

It is a type of scam that continues to spread, with Google itself issuing a warning on the issue in February. The students and staff of the University of Stanford were among the targeted people with a Google Forms link which required the connection details for the academic portal there, and the attack beat the protection of malware by email.

How does the scam work

Google forms are quick and easy to assemble.

David Nield

These scams can take a variety of forms, but they will generally start with a phishing email that will try to encourage you to believe that it is an official and authentic communication. It can be designed to seem to be a colleague, an administrator or a person from a renowned organization.

The apparent quality and reliability of this original phishing email are part of the con. Our reception boxes are regularly filled with requests to reset passwords, check the details or take measures. Like many scams, email can suggest meaning or emergency, or indicate that your safety has been compromised in one way or another.

Worse, the E-mail Incité could actually come from a legitimate email address, if someone in your social circle, your family or your office has diverted their account. In this case, you could not execute the usual checks on the identity of the sender and the email address, because everything would be authentic – although the label and the style would be deactivated.

This email (or perhaps a direct message on social networks) will be used to deliver a Google Forms link, which is the second half of the scam. This form will most often be set up to appear authentic and could try to yvraver a recognized site as your workplace or your bank. The form can invite you to sensitive information, offer a link to malware or include a telephone number or an e-mail address to cause you additional problems.