PHISH ALERT: How Attackers Are Abusing Google Infrastructure for Phishing
KnowBe4 ThreatLabs is tracking an active phishing campaign that weaponizes a nested, triple-chain of Google services —Google Meet, Google Search Redirect, and Google Ad Service—to completely blindside Secure Email Gateways. By routing traffic entirely through trusted infrastructure, attackers deliver victims to malicious phishing pages undetected.
The Hook:
Attackers exploit a blind spot in modern email security by layering multiple trusted Google domains within a single link. Because gateway inspection engines only see authorized infrastructure, reputation checks pass cleanly. The true malicious destination is only resolved at click-time by a human user.
The Attack Chain:
The Bait: High-urgency corporate lures are weaponized, including FedEx updates, DocuSign/AutoSign requests, M365 password expiry alerts, fake remittances, and malicious QR codes.
The Nested Delivery Matrix: Attackers stack three trusted Google domains into a single nested URL to bypass Secure Email Gateways
* SafeLinks → meet[.]google[.]com/linkredirect → google[.]com/url?q= → adservice[.]google[.]com[.]ph/ddm/clk → [attacker domain]
The Evade: Gateway scanners check the outer hops, validate the legitimate Google domain reputations, and allow the email through—leaving the final destination completely uninspected until click-time.
The Fork: Upon clicking, the campaign splits based on the lure context:
Credential Harvesting: Captures credentials on a pixel-perfect M365 sign-in page, pre-populated with the victim's email.
Device Code Phishing: Leads to a fake OneDrive "Shared Document" displaying a pre-generated Microsoft device code designed to hijack the corporate session.
IOCs to Monitor:
vazquezfleytas[.]com
Link-form-unj9[.]p-sm7rw6ru[.]workers[.]dev
edificiocristal[.]pt
odahlzr5lm[.]reliabilityinoperations[.]de
cloudbemismanufacturingcompanygroup[.]rydezyhrsysteminc[.]vu
servicetriumphgroupsimplyappraisals[.]spectrhwqumbrands[.]vu
unitedtechnofzmlogies[.]vu
velvorra[.]com
cloudgillettebrandberkshirehathaway[.]rtzcoekdrporation[.]vu
furqanmustafa[.]com
staiwooje[.]app
data-cloud-ofe8[.]p-8yejy42o[.]workers[.]dev
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