What Is The Google Voice Verification Scam?

The Google voice verification scam is an attempt by fraudsters to gain access to a person’s Google account. The scammer will contact the potential victim via phone, email, or text and claim to be from Google. They will then try to convince the victim to provide them with their Google Voice verification code. Once the scammer has the code, they will access the victim’s account and potentially steal personal information or hijack it. It is important to be aware of this scam and to never provide your verification code to anyone unless you are sure that it is a legitimate request from Google.

Be wary of unsolicited requests for your code, and never click on any links they provide. If you are ever unsure, contact Google directly to verify the request. Even if you never created a Google Voice account, this scam is going around to help hackers gain access to your Google Account, ultimately setting up your Google Voice account. It has a simple link that looks like a Google short-link, but it gives hackers access to your account.

Many people have mentioned that they’ve received a google verification code on their mobile phone, even though they haven’t done so. Many users will see the message “Google is trying to add this device to your list of devices and needs you to confirm your number.” It is followed by a random sim link that verifies whatever device you connect.

What Does This Mean If I Receive This Message?

If you receive a message referring to your Google Voice account that is unsolicited, like in the picture above, you may be under attack and should proceed cautiously.

This means one of a multitude of things.

1. Someone, somewhere, is trying to use your phone number to issue themselves a Google Voice number – making your phone number the forwarding number.
2. You (or someone else) are trying to log in from a device that Google has not authorized. If you’re sitting doing things as usual, and you and nobody else doing this that you know – this means that someone out there is doing so without your permission.
3. Someone is trying to steal your identity and log into your Google Gmail email.
4. Someone may be trying to connect their Craigslist account using your phone number, which would make you responsible for illegal things that they do.
5. Someone is trying to steal your identity to use your phone number – ultimately signing up for something so they can pretend to be you.

If you click this link, the victim can provide instant access to the hacker to log in to their email, Google Voice, and all other Google apps. While it’s been happening for a long time, NortonLifeLock recently noticed and has documented the trend as a legitimate scam/cyberattack technique.

Why Is This So Dangerous?

Clicking on unrequested notification links is extremely risky. If you were to click on one of these fake Google Voice notifications, you have just invited a hacker into your network, and they have free reign.

Many people with a mobile phone wouldn’t think twice when receiving a confirmation message from Google. During the data breach, this scam is the equivalent of someone trying to dress up as someone important to you. When questioned by an authority figure, many people wouldn’t think twice and would go ahead and give that police officer their information. Worse, using this scam is a way to exploit Google’s recovery system.

What Should I Do?

Below are some simple steps to secure your Google and Google Voice accounts before it’s too late.

First, you should register and add your phone number and a recovery email address that isn’t well known to the public. This will help you maintain your information even if someone tries to steal your account.

Secondly, do NOT (we cannot repeat this enough) text your security code or even click on the authorization link if there’s one in the text message. They will end up pretending to be Google and asking for your code, and then they’ll try to text you asking for the code.

If you’ve texted back to the number the security code, or even if you have clicked on the authorization link, then you need to act fast. Quickly change the password to your Gmail and Google account before the attacker can lock you out of it.

If you haven’t created a Google Voice number, you need to create a Google Voice number by clicking the link and getting one. When asked for a forwarding number, make sure you enter a number (not the number that the scammer stole), such as a family member’s or spouse’s number, to have it as a forwarding number. You can permanently remove this number later if needed.

If you receive an email requesting access to your Google account or Google Voice account and you did not request it, a hacker may be trying to breach your device.

You may enter this code when you receive the Google Verification request that YOU approved and requested. DO NOT do this for confirmation requests other than the one you have made.

Go to https://voice.google.com/settings and click the blue circle. You can now enter your scammed phone number as the forwarding number you wish to add. If you try to reclaim this number that hasn’t been used in the past, more than likely, you’ll get a message that states that your number is in use on another account and you need to reclaim it. Take your number back, and your phone number will be removed from your account.

The Final Conclusion

While it’s easy to have this happen to anyone, having the right cybersecurity on your work and home devices is essential to protect your business. Suppose you ever receive ANY text message claiming to be from Google, Microsoft, or a government office that you didn’t try to link your phone to. In that case, you need to treat this information as completely confidential – and realize that you are acting as a firewall for your device by ignoring these unrequested messages.

Failure to do so could result in your identity being stolen, and your phone number’s security code should be treated as you would an SSN or other pertinent information. And always change your password if you think your google has been broken into.

Sophos wrote a blog post a while back that their top researcher found an exploit in Google Chrome in which a hacker can change the way that everything flows inside of it, then run malicious code in the background, and this eliminates the “Are You Sure” dialog that Google normally checks for when someone tries to connect to it. On top of this, many people are at risk of more vulnerabilities than this.

The Vulnerabilities

Having someone get into your computers for businesses and government computers is extremely serious – and thoroughly possible. Fortunately, we’ve got a killer security suite that can help keep this from happening and stop hackers in their tracks. Of course, you can also install the new update, which can help ease some of them, but the fact remains that numerous users have reported events where someone could hack into them. Some of the vulnerabilities that April’s Chrome update instills are:

• Hackers can create a buffer overflow in the Media component of Chrome.
• They can make use of features and vulnerabilities in the WebAudio component in Chrome’s browsers as well. (on two accounts)

Does This Happen on All Chrome Devices?

Fortunately, with Android and ChromeOS, you’re safe. These exploits only affect Chrome installed onto Windows, Mac, and Linux machines. The downside to this is that your business more than likely doesn’t rely on ChromeOS (as very few businesses do these days anyway), so you are at risk. This can cause numerous problems with your server systems and even employee data.

How Can I Update Chrome?

According to Google, updating the latest installation version (81.0.04044.113 or higher) has been patched from Google’s installation website. Most automatic Chrome updates are fixed with this version, so you don’t have to do much. What’s important is that you have a good defense against malware attacks, browser hijacks, and more. They happen very frequently to the best of us, and by using our impressive antivirus suite, you can get the most protection that can halt the attackers before they get completely through.

Performing a Chrome update is quite easy and only takes a minute or two.

1. Take your mouse and head to the top right corner of your window right below the “X,” and you’ll see three vertical dots, click them.
2. Scroll down to “Help,” and move your cursor to the left and highlight “About Google Chrome,” and click it.
3. Google will then start the Chrome update.
4. After you’re finished with your Chrome update, give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.

What We Think

It’s nothing new for browsers to have security holes – it happens all of the time. What’s important is that you nip them in the rear end as quickly as possible. This will help you in the long run and can cause a very much lower loss of data. Data breaches are nothing new, but they can be stopped. Hiring a high-quality managed service provider can significantly help your company and ensure that you get the best possible security service that you can get without having to pay the extra expenses that are commonly associated with hiring an internal IT team. If you haven’t done so, please install your Chrome update as soon as you can.

Finding the Perfect Team Management Software Can Be Exhausting

Some people prefer to have standalone apps, while others prefer the browser-based features of online team management applications. Fortunately, the ones we’re going to cover for you are going to have both options available! This means they can be used as a standalone, and others can be used even on a mobile device! So let us get started, shall we?

1.     Clockify.ME – That’s What It’s Called!

Clockify’s team management software is incredible, and it’s free!!

Clockify is an exceptional time tracking web app. This makes it a fantastic tool for working on projects together or even having numerous things on their plate. They have a sliding hosted service for managing time and even payroll with all parties involved, including virtual assistants and more! You can create custom projects and also get the most out of them by charging an hourly rate.

Want to take it with you without having to log into the admin panel every time you’re going to start working? Simply “clock in” by downloading the desktop version of the software, or you can even use your mobile device or cell phone to clock into your projects. It allows you a cloud-based time solution that is very flexible and amazing. Anyone can be a part of your team with invitations, and you can even let others in a project know that all of their information is completely safe and secure. The platforms you can get it are:

• Android or iPhone
• PC, Mac, or even Linux
• Chrome and Firefox Web

If you want to check out Clockify and see all of their powerful options (of course, they also have Plus and Corporate accounts available as well), you can try them by clicking any of the links below:

Check out Clockify on the Web

Get One of the Apps or Browser Extensions

2.     Slack is Not for Slackers!

If you like things neat and organized, Slack’s team management software may be what you’re looking for.

Slack is an extremely incredible team management software. While some people started using it primarily in the freelance world, but believe it or not, some mighty companies are out there. Even LinkedIn and Google workers use Slack as their base tool of operations. It has a fantastic arsenal of things you can synchronize with it, such as “company” Dropbox accounts, Google Documents, Google Drive, and so much more! Not only that, but it also acts as a messenger in which you can create designated “project rooms.” It’s like the Discord of Employees and Works rather than gaming! You can even integrate other items like Zapier and other marketing tools as well.

What’s the downside? Compared to some other alternatives that are out on the market, it can be a little more on the costly side. However, it’s still one of the most highly supportive apps out there. And just like Clockify, you can even integrate other tools like time management cloud-based programs and bots (like ClockIt) to track time too.

3. Don’t Underestimate the Power of Google!

Google isn’t just a secure search engine. They also have an entire suite of team management software for you to use.

In the past, almost every business used manual office software like Microsoft Office (and they still do very much so) for their internal and external use of business-related items, from spreadsheets to presentations. Now, however, you can use Google Docs, Google Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites (for website building), and more if you’re a business wanting to thrive on the Google Platform. Furthermore, people are using Google’s team management tools because they’re so much easier to use. The downside? While Google promises that your data is safe, but in reality, they can’t protect everything. Not only that, but there was a massive phishing breach back in 2017, which proved that they’re not perfect either.

So What Do We Recommend?

Well, fortunately, if you want the best when it comes to your team management solutions, you may want to know that it is safe to say Slack and other platforms like Clockify aren’t the only solutions out there (although they’re exceptionally great ones). Even if you use a cloud-based project management system, no matter how big or small your business endeavors are, you’re also going to need to have a way to back up everything to a localized cloud. That’s why you should get a fully integrated network solution that can help you do this as well and provide you with every bit of safety possible!

What is Microsoft Credge?

We should clarify that Credge is not the official name for Microsoft’s new Chromium-based browser. Edge will still be called Edge to the delight of IT professionals and tech journalists alike. Sticking with the same naming convention will make life very difficult for support professionals.

Microsoft looks at its naming conventions from the normal end-user point-of-view, though. Most consumers and end-users don’t know the technical differences between WebKit, Blink, Triton, Safari, Chrome, or Edge. They see the brand names. They know what each browser looks like and what features they have. Typically, they don’t understand why one website might work better on one browser than another, though. After all, to most people, the web is the web. Microsoft doesn’t want to muddy the waters from a branding perspective. They want people to use and love Edge.

Microsoft Credge looks super slick, and it is simple to download and install.

The Credge naming convention was popularized by a well-known Microsoft tech journalist named Mary Jo Folley. She coined the term during a podcast that she regularly co-hosts Windows Weekly. Since Mary Jo coined the term Credge, it’s become a popular unofficial code name for the Chromium-based Edge browser, much to Microsoft’s chagrin.

Microsoft Credge is expected to deploy with Windows 10 during the 19h2 release. That release is coming within the next few months. When 19H2 releases, the new Chromium Edge-based browser will be the standard web browser for Windows 10 going forward. At this time, Triton will also officially become decommissioned.

How Does Microsoft Credge Work?

Microsoft is well underway in developing Credge. They have a preview version available now. Anybody can download and install this preview version and test this new browser. Many have reported that despite it not being feature complete, Credge is a very stable and good browser as it stands.

Credge lets you choose from 3 styles for the tab page that let you customize your experience.

Microsoft has not forked the Chromium project to develop its rendering engine as Google did with WebKit to make Blink. Instead, Microsoft is a good steward of the open-source community. They are using the stock Chromium engine with their brand of ‘Chrome’ over top of it. Edge will continue to look like Edge. It will just use Google’s blink engine under the hood.

Much like the way Chromium doesn’t contain the extra Google bits, like account sync, Edge won’t either. Instead, Edge will be tied to Microsoft’s accounts and services. This functionality will be built on top of Chromium the same way Google makes Chrome on top of Chromium.

Benefits

Microsoft’s moving to Chromium benefits both Microsoft and Google. Microsoft is also bringing its development experience to the Chromium project. Anyone that uses Chromium will benefit from Microsoft’s code changes. They have already submitted numerous bug fixes and new features back into the Chromium project. Not to worry, these changes will eventually make their way into Chrome as Google updates it.

Credge promises to keep your information private, safe, and secure with enhanced security protocols.

We also expect that Microsoft will bring its twenty-plus years of accessibility experience to Chromium and thus Chrome. Google Chrome has notoriously been lacking quality accessibility features. Microsoft has the experience to bring these features into the Chromium engine.

Speed is of the utmost importance, especially for businesses. Credge will provide faster speeds, increased performance, less lag time, and it is optimized for Windows 10.

What Will This Mean For Businesses?

Many businesses struggle to support multiple browsers in their IT environments. Chrome can traditionally be much more challenging to deploy and configure through WDS and group policy. Because of this, many businesses have taken a hard stance against using Chrome unless it is needed.

Credge is making Internet Explorer even more obsolete than it already was when referring to businesses.

Likewise, many businesses still have web applications that are based on the now obsolete Internet Explorer browser. These businesses are struggling to build new web applications that don’t depend on that discontinued browser. Continuing to use Internet Explorer has posed security risks as well as inconveniences to end-users. These inconveniences have been a long-time struggle.

As it’s been stated above, deploying a web browser like Chrome can be difficult. Likewise, Edge has faced a lot of pushback from both end-users and IT professionals alike. Switching Edge over to a Chromium-based browser will make life a lot easier for both Microsoft and the IT support crowd.

What Can We Expect?

Businesses will now have a more natural way to deploy and manage a modern browser that won’t cause issues rendering websites that employees need to access. Likewise, companies will have a stable product that they can develop new internal applications against. Developers won’t have to worry about building against a browser that will eventually be deprecated or is incompatible.

Microsoft’s Credge could be a game-changer for businesses. Through ease of use and streamlined design, managing your business online has never been easier.

For web-based businesses, removing Triton will make developing products far easier. That means that, for the most part, developers will only have to worry about building against Blink and Gecko (Firefox’s engine). There may be a few edge cases where Safari issues will need to be managed, but since Blink is a fork of WebKit (Safari’s engine), most things developed against Chrome will work well on Safari too.

For more Credge info or learn about new tech that will help your business check out the rest of our blog!