In case if you don’t know, change.org is a website that was created for making a change in the society using collective petitions. The platform is now being used as a marketplace for scammers to advertise their malicious software packages for free. During the research, I’ve found out that malicious software programs are being spammed using the names of trending popular game titles such as PUBG and Fortnite hacks. These games are currently dominating the video game industries and are an easy choice for crooks.
Why change.org?
If you’re still wondering why would scammers advertise PUBG and Fortnite hacks on change.org then you have to understand the basics of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Search engines like Google and Bing gives priority to credible and popular website’s content in SERP (Search Engine Results Page) and if something is posted on these websites, it gets good ranking on search page compared to new and small blogs. Change.org is an open platform for anyone to start a petition for any good cause. It has no restrictions about what users post on the platform and that’s what makes it a useful tool for scammers. If you post anything on change.org with good keyword density and a low search competition, it’ll get ranked on Google’s homepage. If you look at the above screenshot, you’ll notice that the scammer has used so many different relevant keywords that one can search on Google if looking for PUBG hacks or cheat codes. And it’ll ultimately rank on Google’s first page using some of these spammy keywords.
With the help of this same tactic, malicious software such as malware and ransomware are being advertised using the name of game hacks and pirated content.
Why should we care?
Hacking and cheating in an online game is such a moronic act that no one should do. But, if you look at the audience of these games, you’ll see a majority of them are kids. Even these games have no control over abusive chats and racist comments that it leads an immature audience to look for cheats and become victims of online scams. Kids are easy targets for hackers because they can be easily tricked to download adware, spyware, and malware on their phone. If they get such programs via a simple google search that leads to popular websites like change.org then it’s definitely a reason to get worried.
Conclusion
Website such as Change.org can’t be blamed for the freedom they provide to their users but there should be certain rules applied in order to prevent cyber crimes and scams on kids. A reputable and credible platform shouldn’t be used like this.
