After being contacted by CNN Business, Google conducted an internal investigation and confirmed that it did receive reports from two state agencies. Agencies from multiple states, including Tennessee, California and New York, characterized the websites to CNN Business as either being a "scam" or "fraudulent." "We have strict policies against ads that mislead users by implying an affiliation with a government agency," a Google spokesperson told CNN Business in a statement. Google took the ads down several hours after CNN Business asked the company for comment. California, New York and Tennessee told CNN Business they have now contacted the FBI about the websites.

Source: CNN February 03, 2020 15:11 UTC