Google's fake encrypted ads persist despite repeated crackdowns; another phishing website impersonating Uniswap has swindled $400,000.

According to Mars Finance, on May 26th, blockchain analyst "b-block" posted on social media that a website impersonating Uniswap was stealing funds from multiple wallets, with the scammers holding assets worth over $400,000. Stacy Muur, founder of Web3 marketing agency Green Dots, shared screenshots of fake sponsored search engine results, criticizing Google for ignoring this issue for years, allowing fake links to rank above legitimate ones, leading to continued user theft. According to Etherscan data, two flagged addresses held approximately 146 ETH, worth about $306,000. DeFiLlama pointed out that fake ads on Google are a common source of phishing attacks. The crypto nonprofit Security Alliance (SEAL) reported in April that phishing activity on Google search "increased significantly" in March, with attackers using paid or stolen legitimate advertising accounts to deliver highly deceptive fake ads, bypassing Google's automatic checks with seemingly legitimate URLs and loading malicious payloads through hidden iframes. SEAL has blocked over 356 malicious ad links and stated that the attackers' weekly deployment of Google ads has remained stable for over a year, with no slowdown in their offensive activities. Reports indicate that between March 13th and 30th alone, a total of $1.27 million was stolen. Furthermore, earlier this month, a "malicious ad" campaign targeting Mac users emerged, utilizing shared chat via Google ads and the AI chatbot Claude. A Malwarebytes report also points out that Facebook is a major target for fake ads and scams.