Hackers Use Bing Redirects in Google Ads to Spread Fake Claude Installers

Hackers are using legitimate Bing search-result redirects in Google search ads to send users to fake Claude installers that deliver ClickFix attacks, according to a report by security researchers at Push Security. The researchers call the technique “Adception.”

The campaign came to light after Push Security detected a malicious Google ad targeting searches for “claude mac.” The ad passed through Google’s advertising redirect and Bing’s click-tracking endpoint, then sent visitors to a compromised WordPress site belonging to a South American retailer. That site redirected them to a fake Claude download page aimed at macOS users.

The attackers use checks at both the compromised site and the fake page to filter visitors. The sites look for a Bing referrer, browser headers, or evidence that visitors arrived from Google or Bing. Direct visits instead lead to a 404 page, making the payload harder for security scanners to inspect.

The fake page displays Anthropic’s legitimate installation command, but its copy button puts a different command on the clipboard. That command decodes a Base64-encoded URL, downloads a .dat file from an attacker-controlled server with curl, and pipes it into macOS Z shell (zsh) for execution. The final payload remains unknown, so it is unclear what malware, if any, the attack installs. Push Security says it found several related domains using the same ClickFix toolkit, which it tracks internally as AcSig.