Google Warns 1.8B Gmail Users Over Sophisticated Ongoing Phishing Attack

Google has issued a warning to its nearly two billion Gmail users about a sophisticated phishing scam involving a 'no-reply' email that appears to come from no-reply@accounts.google.com. The scam claims that Google has been subpoenaed to release a user's account contents and includes a link to a convincing fake support page hosted on sites.google.com, a domain anyone can use to create pages, rather than the legitimate accounts.google.com. The attackers exploit Google's OAuth technology by registering fake apps that send authentic-looking notification emails, tricking victims into granting access permissions or downloading malware, potentially compromising their accounts and devices. This phishing method is highly convincing because the emails pass standard security checks like DKIM and appear in legitimate email threads, making it difficult for users to detect the fraud. Security experts and companies like Kaspersky confirm the scam's sophistication and note that Google has now shut down the exploit used to create these fake OAuth apps. Google emphasizes that it will never call users to reset passwords or troubleshoot account issues, urging users not to respond to such messages and to be cautious of social engineering tactics that bypass traditional email filters.