You are right to be skeptical of these sorts of email messages. The one you’re talking about is a scam and an attempt for you to unwittingly subscribe to a third-party cloud storage solution that doesn’t even relate to Google or Gmail. Generally, though, I highly recommend taking a deep breath when you get one of these urgent warnings, doing some online research, and ascertaining whether it seems legit or not, before you click on anything. In this instance, it was just trying to extract your credit card number, but the next one might install some malware on your computer, which would not be good.
Remember that scammers always want to create a sense of urgency so that you feel you have to react immediately rather than slow the heck down and think about whether it’s logical or not. In your case, you’ve never paid for cloud storage on Gmail, so as you say, how could your payment fail? It’s worth noting that Google does sell cloud storage for Gmail accounts through its Google One program. But you would know if you were subscribed to that because that’s an annual fee.
The important thing in this case is to be skeptical. If it seems like it might be legit, then you can do a little detective work. I have a similar email message in my own inbox, so let me step you through the sleuthing available…
The Scary Email Message, Examined
No question, an email message like the following will provoke anxiety. Even the colors have been chosen to make you upset and prevent you from thinking clearly:
Closer examination shows that it’s not complaining about Gmail, it’s saying that your Google One subscription was unable to be renewed. The thing is, if your Google One subscription failed to renew, it wouldn’t stop you from accessing Gmail, though it would stop you from sending or receiving messages until you freed up space or renewed.
However, Google would never use white text on a black background with a red border. This color scheme alone should be enough of a red flag that this is not a legit email message. But let’s look at it just a little bit more closely…
If you click on the tiny triangle adjacent to the word “me” on the very top, it will give you a little more information about the sender and receiver. In this instance, it is fairly amusing:
100% guarantee that Google would never send an email message from a domain called white-collar- crime.units.fbi.doj.gov.persector.net, whatever the heck that is. 🤣
Still not sure? Okay, let’s look at where you’ll go if you click on the link. That can be done by simply hovering your cursor over the button and looking at the lower left corner of your email window:
This is a common tactic that scammers are using nowadays: utilizing Google’s open API system to redirect links. Again, if this were legit, then Google would be pointing to a .google.com domain that would offer more information about the status of your Google One account.
What Happens If You Click?
In the spirit of research and investigation, I clicked on this link to see where I would go. Here’s the landing page that you probably saw too after you clicked on your link:
A close investigation will reveal that it was pointing to googleapi.com. I have ended up on a page at the domain safecyberadvancedshield.autos. Does that sound like a domain Google would use?
In terms of the content, again, the goal is to create a sense of urgency so that you don’t think logically and you just react. This warning sign definitely suggests that this is something you need to deal with ASAP! Except that that’s not how Google works, nor any other major cloud storage provider. You’ll never lose anything.
When I click on Continue…
Again, on first glance, this seems like it might be legit. It’s certainly colorful and looks like Google’s color scheme. But as you say, you don’t subscribe to Google One, so why would it show you this? More importantly, noticed that there’s a “special offer “and that there’s a “loyalty program”. The whole deal just sounds ridiculous anyway: a one-time $1.99 charge and you have unlimited storage space forever? To underline the whole scam, there’s now a countdown timer!
You would never do this, but I clicked on upgrade storage. Here’s where I went…
It runs some sort of bogus test and then tells me I’m qualified. Huzzah! A click on “claim now” and…
The Tail End Of The Scam
The scammers at this point are excited that they’ve just about closed the deal. I mean, I have clicked through on all of these different links and ostensibly bought into whatever it is they’re trying to hype. So here’s the final step:
This last step was tricky to capture because it’s part of a bounce between pages, but here’s where it took me for just a moment or two:
Do I have to even say that this is not likely to be something Google would use?
Finally, I end up on what seems like a legitimate site with a secure page asking for my credit card information.
Independent of anything else, this page should tell you how much you’re about to be charged, but it doesn’t. Do I trust these people and think that I’m gonna get that $1.99 deal? No. I think it’s more likely that I’m going to be charged $99.99 and then go in circles with my credit card company trying to reverse the charge because it was a scam. While I’m doing that, my credit card may be hit for a dozen or even hundreds of additional charges because I’ve given them my address, ZIP Code, and all of my credit card information.
The long and short of it is that this is a scam. I have given you many different ways to ascertain that it’s not legit. And remember, anytime you get an email message from a service that you use. You can also just login to that service and check for notifications or messages. Far more secure and reliable than an email message out of the blue that has all sorts of red flag flags. Long and short of it is be careful out there.
Pro Tip: I’ve been writing about online scams for many years. Please check out my spam, scams, and security help area while you’re visiting. Thanks!
