Everyone with a Gmail account is warned they’re ‘at risk’ as new ‘extremely sophisticated’ scam emerges

There’s a dangerous new scam going around that’s targeting people who use Gmail, and it’s very hard to spot. It’s not the usual spam or clearly fake message you’d expect. This one is clever, sneaky, and looks completely real. That’s why security experts are warning everyone to be extra careful.

Here’s how it works. You might get an email that looks like it came directly from Google. It doesn’t have any typos or weird formatting like most scam emails do. In fact, this one is so well done that Gmail doesn’t flag it as suspicious. It doesn’t go to your spam folder. It shows up right in your inbox, and it looks just like a normal, official email from Google support. Even the email address it comes from looks real. That’s part of what makes this scam so dangerous.

One tech expert, Nick Johnson, figured it out after getting one of these emails himself. He said the message passed all the normal security checks that Gmail uses to confirm an email is safe. That means most people, even tech-savvy ones, wouldn’t realize anything is wrong.

The email asked him to do something that sounded normal—like check a support case or upload a document. But when he clicked the link in the email, it took him to a website that looked just like a Google help page. Everything about it looked familiar. Then it asked him to sign in to his Google account. But this was the trap. It wasn’t the real Google sign-in page. It was a fake one designed to steal your username and password. If he had entered his information, the scammers could have taken control of his Gmail account.

Once someone has access to your email, they can do a lot of damage. They can read your private messages, steal your personal info, reset your passwords for other websites, and even pretend to be you. In other words, falling for this kind of trick can lead to identity theft and financial loss.

Security experts are giving some advice to help people avoid falling into this kind of trap. First, always be suspicious of emails that ask you to click a link or sign in to your account, especially if you weren’t expecting the message. Even if it looks real, it could be fake. If you’re ever unsure, don’t click the link. Instead, open your browser and go straight to the website yourself by typing in the address manually. That way, you know you’re on the real site.

You can also check the email’s details, like the sender’s full email address or the message headers, to see if anything seems off. And be careful about using your Google login to sign into other websites, especially ones you’re not familiar with. That can also be risky if the site isn’t safe.

This scam is very well done and could fool almost anyone. So take your time with emails, don’t click links too fast, and if something feels even a little bit off, trust your instincts and double-check. Would you like help spotting scams like this in your own inbox?