New Google Photos scam asks you to add a photo album, wants your password in return

Imagine getting an email telling you that someone has shared a Google photo album with you. But, after clicking, investigators say that what was shared isn’t photos but a scheme to steal your personal information.

You may not even immediately recognize this as a scam because they use what looks like real links.

The Better Business Bureau says to watch out for these links. Scammers are using them in hopes that you’ll enter your information and they’ll have access to your Google account.

After getting access to that account, you may inadvertently be giving them the power to steal your identity and give them access to your financial information.

Bryan Oglesby works for the Better Business Bureau. “It’s not the full word google, if you really look closely at the URL, they’ll have a dot added to it or an extra O, and this is where scammers are really good at playing on consumers’ busyness,” Oglesby said.

“We see an email that looks legitimate and we don’t take a few minutes to look at it thoroughly, we click on the link and then we are taken to a landing page that looks legitimate,” said Oglesby.

There are a few ways to avoid getting scammed:

• Hover over links to check spelling
• Don’t click on unknown and unexpected links
• Beware of shortened links
• Even if they sound urgent, don’t act quickly
• Have an identity theft plan in place