Google Blocks 231B Spam, Phishing Emails in Past 2 Weeks

'Tis the season for cybercrime and scams: Just ask Google.

As we move into the holiday season, the cloud giant is already spotting and stopping 10% more spam and phishing messages than usual: It blocked more than 231 billion spam and phishing emails in just the past two weeks. On average, Google says it catches and stops around 15 billion of these sketchy emails in Gmail per day, accounting for 99.9% of all spam, phishing, and malware-laden messages in the service.

Google Workspace Trust & Safety manager Nelson Bradley warned in a Nov. 22 blog post of five main themes and types of email scams to watch out for: gift cards and giveaways; phony charity lures; demographic-targeting; false subscription renewals; and cryptocurrency scams.

Nelson recommends users take time to think over an email before responding, as well as spot-check the information in the email, and, of course, not respond with any personal information or payment. 

"No reputable person or agency will ever demand payment or your personal information on the spot," he wrote.