The general population is fascinated with AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT. Sadly, the popularity of the AI tool has also attracted scammers who use it to carry out extremely complex investment frauds against naive internet users. Nevertheless, security experts warn that ChatGPT and other AI techniques may be used to rapidly and on a much wider scale produce phishing emails and dangerous code.
Bitdefender Antispam Labs claims that the most recent wave of "AI-powered" scams starts with a straightforward unwanted email. In reality, our researchers were instantly drawn to what seemed to be a harmless marketing ploy, and they went on to uncover a complex fraud operation that poses a threat to participants' wallets and identities.
The initiative is currently focused on Denmark, Germany, Australia, Ireland, and the Netherlands.
How does the Scam Operate?
In the past several weeks, fake ChatGPT apps have appeared on the Google Play and Apple App Stores, promising users weekly or monthly memberships to utilize the service. The con artists behind this specific scheme go above and beyond to deceive customers.
Users who click the email's link are taken to a clone of ChatGPT that tempts them with money-making chances that pay up to $10,000 per month 'just on an exclusive ChatGPT platform.'
The recipient must click on an embedded link to access further information because the email itself is short on specifics. They click on this link to be taken to a bogus ChatGPT chatbot, where they are prompted to invest at least €250 and provide their contact information, including phone number, email address, and card details.
The victim is then given access to a copy of ChatGPT, which varies from the original chatbot in that it provides a limited number of pre-written responses to user inquiries. Only a domain that is blacklisted allows access to this chatbot.
It's nothing unusual for scammers to take advantage of popular internet tools or patterns to trick users. Use only the official website to test out the official ChatGPT and its AI-powered text-generating capabilities. Avoid clicking on links you get in unsolicited mail, and be particularly suspicious of investment schemes distributed on behalf of a corporation, which generally are scams.
