Deposit Scams Advertised on Google

Lightning said:
Grrrrr ... the link that Google provide, in their emails, to dispute their decision does not work. :mad::mad:. Another example of the awful approach that Google have with reporting and identifying scams (and not self-identifying scams on their side).

I have re-reported the advert to Google and used stronger and clearer language to explain.

I will also report the europeandeposits.com website to the CBI too for being an unauthorised deposit taker.
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I looked at reporting the ad to Google. It states the advertiser is verified, a company called Moneda Capital PLC (https://www.monedacapitalgroup.com/about-us.php. ). Was this the same company as the other sites?

There's no mention of Moneda on the European deposit site.
 
Bronte said:
Sorry if this is a stupid question, surely the CB's everywhere have a department for following potential scams.
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If they do have such a department - the CBI department are not proactive enough / perhaps only act on reports. Google is littered with scam deposit adverts - perhaps the CBI are not engaging with Google on this.
 
The CBI have responded with the following:

Thank you for your email and for bringing this matter to the attention of the Central Bank of Ireland (‘Central Bank’). The Central Bank can confirm that a website calling itself ‘European Deposits’ is not authorised by the Central Bank.



The Central Bank issued a warning notice regarding this comparison websites in June 2024 - https://www.centralbank.ie/news/art...authorised-firm-european-deposits-17-jun-2024



Please be advised that where a person deals with an unauthorised firm, there is no recourse to the Statutory Compensation Scheme or to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. Furthermore, the Central Bank does not recoup monies lost by people who deal with unauthorised firms

You may wish to report this matter directly to your local Garda Station or to the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau at GNECB.DistrictOffice@garda.ie. If you are provided with a Garda reference code (‘Pulse identification number’), please forward the PULSE reference details to us.

In addition, you may wish to report this matter directly to your banking provider.



We wish to notify you that we may disclose the information you provide to the Central Bank to External Third Party Organisations, as is necessary in furtherance of our investigations



Thank you for again for contacting the Central Bank.





Yours sincerely,





Unauthorised Providers Unit │ Enforcement Advisory Division
Central Bank of Ireland
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Good news - CBI have already issued a warning about these scammers.

Bad news - Google continue to be inept and continue to show adverts from these scammers.

I have asked the CBI to contact Google - will see what they say.
 
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They are pretty good at hoovering up ad revenue though. I still recall when I first heard an IT expert explain to me "If you aren't paying Google, then you're the product, not the consumer".
 
So many of these scam websites popping up lately...I had someone cold call me offering to connect me with new deposits on a Revolut account. I laughed and hung up, these Fintechs would absolutely not be coldcalling someone to set up deposits - they´re not allowed to play broker or give financial advice I think
 
The Central Bank of Ireland have responded to my email about whether they should work with Google to stop these scams with the below:

Thank you for your email.



The Central Bank can assure you that any instance of alleged unauthorised activity that comes to the attention of the Central Bank is investigated in full and all statutory reporting obligations are complied with by the Central Bank over the course of its investigations. Additionally, in accordance with our statutory obligations of confidentiality, the Central Bank cannot provide any details on any of our ongoing investigations.



Thank you again for the information you have provided to the Central Bank.



Yours sincerely,



Unauthorised Providers Unit │ Enforcement Advisory Division
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i.e. Will not say if they will take action or not.

Surely the CBI can state clearly at a high level as to whether they work with online platforms or not?

Meanwhile, Google have rejected my further complaints.

But Google seems to have removed the 'European Deposit' adverts (as far as I can see anyway) but still have Irelandratefinder.com scam adverts.

Not sure what else can be done to stop Google showing these scams as adverts?
 
Hi Lightning

The Central Bank is telling you that it has investigated these and probably issued warnings.

It uses its "statutory obligations of confidentiality" as a smokescreen to avoid discussing any issues with the public.

Bring it to the attention of the Oireachtas Finance Committee who will ask the Central Bank about it at their next visit.

Brendan
 
This is shocking ... Google showing scam cryptocurrency advertisements featuring Michael Martin.

m.independent.ie

Scam cryptocurrency ads on Google featuring Tánaiste Micheál Martin were paid for in Russian and ‘shown four million times’

Online scam advertisements featuring images of Micheál Martin were bought by someone using the Russian language and were viewed by thousands of unsuspecting Irish people.
m.independent.ie m.independent.ie

Google need to be forced to:
- Human reviews of all adverts before publication.
- Only accept financial adverts from firms that are authorized by the Central Bank of Ireland.
 
With the resumption of the Dáil, I have sent this email to the Oireachtas Finance Committee. (With thanks to @Lightning for drafting it for me.)


Deputies and Senators

Some of us have reported deposit scams to the Central Bank and to Google. Sometimes they take action. More often than not, they don't.

People are losing thousands of euro to these scammers every day and it should be easy enough to prevent it.

The Central Bank should be proactive on this - monitoring ads for scams - A simple Google search for "compare deposit rates ireland" would come up with them if they are there.

Try it. I have just found these scammers: https://www.monedacapitaleurope.com...53hL3HXWMuzbpthV-kLB8nMkZGCiFPI4aAqkAEALw_wcB

They have been up for a while.

There should be direct line from the Central Bank to Google telling them to take down these ads. Google pays little attention to citizens reporting stuff but would probably take action if alerted by the Central Bank.

Here is a thread documenting what a few of us are doing to stop them directly.

https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/deposit-scams-advertised-on-google.231184/

If there is another Oireachtas Committee that deals with Google, you might bring this to their attention.

Example 1:
1. Google have being displaying adverts for Europeandeposits.com for some time.
2. In June 2024, the Central Bank of Ireland issued as warning against the firm as an unauthorized firm. See https://www.centralbank.ie/news/art...authorised-firm-european-deposits-17-jun-2024
3. Google continued to show adverts after the CBI issued the warning.
4. An askaboutmoney user reported the advert 3 times including sending in the CBI link and Google rejected all the complaints and continued to show the adverts.
5. He then contacted the CBI and asked if the CBI could work with Google to stop this. The CBI did not directly answer the question at to whether they would work with Google to stop this.

Example 2:
- Google continued to show adverts, under domains that keep changing, that are scams.
- For example, Irelandratefinder.com which is a website in a very similar format as prior scams.
- The way the scam works is they advertise on Google under deposit terms, harvest person phone numbers via their website and then make heavy handed phone calls to sell non existent deposit products and then steal deposit money.
-Google are rejecting user complains to remove adverts from this firm.

Questions that perhaps the committee could ask:
- Do the CBI actively work with online platforms in particular Google to stop scams?
- What can be done to stop Google showing scam deposit adverts?
- Does legislation need to be involved to better regulate online adverts related to financial products? For example, mandatory checks that the firm is authorized.
 
Is Coimisiún na Meán in operation yet?

I presume it will be just as effective as the Broadcast Authority of Ireland in regulating outrageous stuff on radio and TV.

I suppose I might as well bring this to their attention as well.

Coimisiún na Meán | Online Safety

Coimisiún na Meán is putting an online safety framework in place in Ireland which will make digital services accountable for how they protect people, especially children, from harm online.
www.cnam.ie www.cnam.ie

Brendan
 
Central Bank used to be pretty active on the advertising issue but it may have been with entites that they regulate.

They definitely went through my websites in 2013 or 2014 as they contacted me about changing the regulatory disclosure statement text on one of them from ....is regulated by the Financial Regulator to ....is Regulated by the Central Bank
 
GSheehy said:
They definitely went through my websites in 2013 or 2014 as they contacted me about changing the regulatory disclosure statement text on one of them from ....is regulated by the Financial Regulator to ....is Regulated by the Central Bank
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That is typical. Wasting time on non-issues, instead of addressing real issues.
 
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