Innocent searches on Google may lead to malware!

Cybercriminals use popular search terms such as “how to make money online” and “Taylor Swift” as a trap to encourage users to download malware.

How to make money online

Some companies offer great employee benefits or high wages, but good jobs are difficult to find.

Be wary of contracts or part-time jobs with many unusual perks.

This may be a part-time office support job you do remotely with a generous compensation plan, or a position that offers a much more flexible schedule than expected.

If you are asked to download special software to run a test, this is a red flag for malware.

Free people sites and phone numbers

Websites that promise to help you find people or trace phone numbers are notorious for ripping people off.

But these sites are simply trying to push you into an expensive subscription. So:

● Check publicly available information such as government documents, arrest records, and property information.

● Do a comprehensive search on Google. 

Malware on film

Innocent searches for movies, shows, and celebrities yield horrific results.

A new study found the most common search terms for children's devices being infected with malware.

Home Security Heroes, a company that helps families stay safe online, found that more than half of search results for “The Boss Baby,” “Transylvania 2,” and “Sonic the Hedgehog” could contain malware.

Many of the links usually lead to illegal download sites, just waiting to infect anything that comes their way.

TV shows are also risky: 47% of Google searches related to the “Pokémon” series raised a red flag about malware.

Celebrity danger

Internet searches for Ariana Grande and Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer revealed several suspicious results.

Google, Bing, and Yahoo can filter explicit or potentially harmful content from search results.

● Google: On your device, go to the SafeSearch setting. Select Filter, Blur, or Off.

● Bing: Open your browser and go to Bing.com. Select the menu icon at the top right of the window. Select Settings > More. Choose SafeSearch preferences: Strict, Moderate, or Off. Select Save at the bottom of the menu.

● Yahoo: Go to the Yahoo search page, and make sure you are signed in. Click the app icon > Settings > Preferences from the search results page. Select SafeSearch preferences from the menu.

And you should update your antivirus software on all your devices to protect against searches that can lead to malware.