You mean you want my money and my passwords?

When faced with online advertisers, the day-to-day web surfer has more to worry about than seedy products and scams. Online advertising itself has opened the backdoor for bad guys to get into your computer.

As with anything on the Internet, most people know that you have to be careful. Every click has consequences, even links as seemingly harmless as a Google AdWords campaign.

As you can see in the video below, a tracking system for weeding out your passwords and information is secretly embedded in an ad for the Better Business Bureau. As you’re taken to the BBB homepage, you’re given a slew of secret programs designed to hack your machine.

Sharks in the water…

Today, a search for the Better Business Bureau turns up no AdWords – Google is responsible enough to put the kibosh on such activity soon after it’s caught.

But how many other online advertising scams do they have yet to catch? How many people have been victims of fraud, and will continue to be, by technical masterminds with malicious motives?

Further research didn’t turn up a solid number, likely because it’s changing as fast as the dynamics of online advertising itself.

In fact, computer hackers are likely ahead of the curve, meeting and exploiting innocent hosts – like your average online advertiser – whenever they catch up. By the time any such scams reach your computer, they are so well-embedded in the system that they can be hard to catch with the untrained eye.

Swimming Safely Through Online Advertising

Fortunately, programs like Link Scanner, a free service mentioned in the video above, inspects each Web site for exploit codes – that is, in essence, those which might sabotage your computer.

With minimal regulation of the World Wide Web, the onus of fraud prevention lies on the individual, who must look for trouble around every corner and behind every click, even when it’s as elusive as an online ad.

The Internet can still be a place of exploration and discovery, as long as we’re aware of the sharks in the water.

If you or someone you know has been bitten, so to speak, by these lurking predators, please tell me your story in the comment box below. Thanks again for reading!