When a person searches for the brand name, these impersonation sites appear as the second or third result on popular. Then, once the scammers trick a shopper into buying a product on the fake website, the shopper will either never receive any item at all, or they'll receive a knockoff brand item that they didn't pay for.
The real issue is that these scammers now have the shopper's name, credit card information, shipping address, and email address, and they can do whatever they please with this information. What do the scammers do with the information they steal? Some might simply use the credit card number to start buying whatever they want, while others might take things a step further and steal a shopper's identity and commit various acts of fraud.
The reason for this is that search engines tend to view older domains as more trustworthy and authoritative compared to newly registered ones. What this also does, in some cases, is greatly increase their rank to the second or third result in Google searches for many brand-related keywords.
You should also be making sure that every site you visit begins https:// instead of http://, as this will guarantee that extra layer of security when you're browsing online. HTTPS uses encryption to secure the communication between your browser and the website, protecting the integrity and confidentiality of the data transmitted. This encryption makes it more difficult for attackers to intercept or manipulate the information you exchange with the website.
It's important to note that while HTTPS helps protect your communication with the website, it doesn't guarantee that the website itself is trustworthy or free from other security vulnerabilities. There's always at least a slight risk when you're shopping for something online.Try your best to avoid clicking any links that come up under Sponsored when doing a Google search.