Abhinav Lal

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Posted on 06-07-2011

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We know there is a rather large number of readers out there interested in getting access to Google+, the new social networking service from Google that has started a craze for invites across the web, and is currently operating at limited capacity. A warning that there are fake and potentially dangerous invites being circulated is therefore much in order – so, however enticing that Google+ invite email from a friend or stranger looks, it just might lead to some undesired consequences.

• Google+ launched, takes on Facebook
• Google+ to cross 400 million users by 2012 end
• Google+ rolls out 'Find My Face' facial recognition feature

This of course, is a measure of just how popular the service already is, or perhaps, just how hip our cyber predators have become. For now, Sophos and Emimsoft reports are pointing to a very authentic looking email (see image below) with all the right looking address data and layout, seeming exactly as if a friend added you to one of their Google+ circles, and you are being notified of it. The “Learn more about Google+” link unfortunately points you to a pharmacy site. Other types of emails are bound to pop up soon enough.

Keep a couple of things in mind before clicking on an invite mail – ask yourself if you've ever registered with Google+ to keep yourself posted, if not, ask yourself if you know the person sending you this mail; and if you do open the mail, ask yourself if you are sure the link the invite is pointing you to is an authentic Google one.

Unforunately, even if you answered yes to all these questions, the link might still be malicious, and so, the only real hope is to be truly wary. Or in this case, hope that Google goes out of 'limited capacity' mode soon, and gets the invite craze over with. Try some of our workarounds or direct sign in method in the meanwhile, found here.

Emimsoft advises "a healthy dose of skepticism when receiving emails that supposedly come from Google. Unprofessional layout and spelling mistakes are clear indications of a forgery. Real emails from the search machine giant are usually personalized and the links always clearly point to Google domains."