The Telecommunications and Digital Governance Regulatory Authority in the state has warned the public of the presence of what it described as "suspicious links" during online search activities. The authority clarified that there are numerous sponsored links that appear prominently on the search engine "Google," which appear before users in the preliminary results for attractive offers, even though they are usually not legitimate.
The authority also indicated that these links may direct users directly to fraudulent sites, whether they are searching for services or offers from governmental entities. The authority warned against clicking on such links or sharing any personal or financial information with them, especially personal identification and credit card details, affirming that these advertisements appearing in search engines are sponsored and do not provide any legitimate service.
The authority recommended searching for original sites and avoiding sponsored links, relying only on verified sites. It focused on the importance of protecting users from fraudulent activities via the internet and called for everyone to be vigilant and cautious.
In a related context, the authority warned last week about phishing messages targeting users of social media platforms, indicating that they are among the procedures of such networks. The authority clarified that these messages threaten to hack users' accounts due to violations related to intellectual property rights.
The authority stressed the importance of not interacting with such fake messages and advised against clicking on suspicious links to protect accounts and personal and financial information from breaches.
