Last weekend, from Friday through Saturday, a link to an official-looking new Google site has made its rounds in social media. The thumbnail image shows a crystal ball and the Google logo and the clincher is that it claims to be able to tell the future. The Google Fortune Teller link leads to a website with a tab for typing in questions regarding one's future. True to the Google trademark, suggestions for questions are also listed.
However, the site has turned out to be completely unrelated to Google. Furthermore, it cannot tell the query's future. "Of course we can't predict your future! But 60 million refugees ask themselves every day if they have a future at all. So we used a fake Google site to get your attention because apparently you were interested in your own future. Please take a moment to think of their future." The site read.
The fake Google site has reportedly been set up by a web design company that is based in Netherlands. The Betagoogle site entices users to think of the condition of millions of refugees who are seeking safe shelter and are fast streaming into European seas. According to IBN Live, the site has been reported for web forgery and is not accessible to Firefox users. However, the link works just fine with Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome users.
The fake site is registered in Netherlands by BrandMedia, a design company in the country. The company's owner is Edwin Fennema. The site then shows photos and videos of refugees from war-torn Syria and other countries such as Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. Google Fortune Teller directs users to initiatives that will help raise donations and awareness for the growing number of refugees, especially since winter is coming.
The real Google, for its part, has spearheaded its own initiative, the One Today Refugee Relief project. The search giant has put up banners with the "Donate" button on many of its websites and targets to raise $11 million. News about the conditions of immigrants that have tried to flee from ISIS have been heart-breaking, and some European countries responded by closing borders because the number of refugees increases very fast.
