By Michael Scott
US tech multinational Google LLC had on Monday, November 13, filed charges in the California Northern District court intending to weed out malicious advertisement and malware distribution. The lawsuit filed in the San Jose division targets entities leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and infringing copyright laws to scam the unsuspecting public on Facebook.
A snippet of the court documents shared by Reuters reveals Google’s submission that scammers are tapping social media and distributing fake advertisements that feature its logo to swindle unsuspecting public. The filing indicated that the victims are lured into downloading the malware disguised as updated Bard- Google’s flagship AI platform.
Google Lawsuit Unmasks Deceptive Cyber Criminal Scheme
The Monday filing identifies two unnamed groups deceptively holding themselves out to the unsuspecting public as Google AI AIGoogle.Plus, AIGoogleBard, AIGoogle, and AiGoogle are on Meta’s social media platform, Facebook.
The first group seeks to exploit the desire demonstrated by the public for generative AI to distribute malware. The second category is weaponizing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), intending to hurt business competitors by filing thousands of fraudulent copyright notices.
Google submitted that the orchestrators are running deceptive advertisements aided by fake Google posts on social media that feature falsified domain names and emails such as gbard-ai.info and gg-bard-ai.com. Google submitted that the actions are targeted at increasing the likelihood of confusion.
Google alleges the defendants utilize its proprietary typeface and colors matching the multicolor sequence. Google attorneys submitted in the California court that the defendants use images taken from its speaking events and depicting its chief executive, Sundar Pichai.
Google demands a jury to handle the trial against the unnamed defendants. It intends the lawsuit to help disrupt the scamming scheme. Besides, the jury trial process creates public awareness of the scam and helps prevent incidents from harming unsuspecting individuals.
Google’s attorney submitted that the tech company initiated the lawsuit as part of its legal strategy to safeguard consumers and small enterprises. It added that the lawsuits will establish legal precedent within the emerging innovation fields in support of eradicating frauds and scams.
Google reiterated that establishing a clear regulatory framework against harassment, scams, and fraud is critical. The tech company affirmed its commitment to execute its role to protect the public using the internet from blatant abuse and exploitation.
Cyber Criminals Luring Victims to Run Installer of Malicious Codes
Google submitted that the scammers lure the public to run the Bard. Unknowingly, they are running installers for the malicious code. The plaintiff revealed that the malware utilizes a concealed design, allowing the scammers to access the victim’s credentials for social media login.
Google filing suggests that the defendants invite users to realize optimized outcomes by downloading the software. They lure the users to realize better advertising content while others display the ‘learn more’ icon.
While the text suggests Google.ai and ai.google domains, the learn more button links the users to the defendants’ malware. Users exposed to the advertisement mistakenly believe the defendants’ advertisements are from Google LLC.
The attorneys indicated that the defendants target advertiser accounts and users running business accounts on social media platforms.
Google submitted that though they are unaware of the individuals’ identity, the attorney submitted that they appear to be using a Vietnam base. Also, the scammers appear to be part of a prevalent malware campaign stealing credentials of social media profiles with servers hosted in Los Angeles, California.
Cyber Criminals Leverage Generating AI to Run Sophisticated Scam Schemes
The emergence of rapid advances fueled by artificial intelligence is giving cybercriminals an easier channel to formulate and deploy sophisticated online scams. The prevalence of such schemes prompted law enforcement agencies to alert the public on extortion campaigns running via AI deepfakes.
The October report by cybersecurity firm SlashNext revealed a 1265% spike in phishing emails since the Microsoft-backed OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT. SlashNext chief executive Patrick Harr indicated that the true influence derived from generative AI is evident in the increased utilization of ChatGPT in cybercriminal activity. Its existence is facilitating cyber criminals to run sophisticated scamming schemes.
Editorial credit: gguy / Shutterstock.com