The odds of you losing money due to a scheme with Google’s name attached to it are decreasing.  Earlier this month, the search giant started cracking down on payout scams that cite its brand.

Here, as the AdWords Help Experts reported, is the text of the email Google’s contacting certain advertisers with: “It’s come to our attention that you have submitted ads that promote Google Money Tree or ads that promote a misrepresented affiliation with Google.  Due to multiple complaints from our users and publishers, we’ve made the decision not to accept these ads.”

The email then continues, “This is a notification that your account has been suspended due to the submission of these ads and your ads will no longer run on Google.  Please note that future accounts you open will also be suspended.”

So Google’s taking the matter quite seriously, which is nice.  Google’s actually scored high in a number of “brand trust” surveys, so scams in its name are especially dangerous.

With all due respect, we’d just offer the tip that you avoid doing anything the least bit suspicious-looking.