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How we're combatting AI scams with security, legislation and more

You’ve seen the texts: fake package alerts, urgent bank warnings, panicked messages about your compromised account. Behind them is an AI-powered cybercrime network built to steal your passwords and credit cards. Today, we’re fighting back.

We’re filing a lawsuit to dismantle their infrastructure, coordinating with the FBI who will be taking law enforcement actions, and will continue to work with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon to block these texts before they reach you. Litigation alone won’t end this. So Google is also advocating for federal legislation to make these protections permanent.

Our civil lawsuit targets an organized cybercrime operation known as the "Outsider Enterprise." Based in China and coordinating through Telegram, this network distributes "phishing kits" that allow criminals to blast out fake text campaigns that look like they’re from Google and other trusted brands.

Google Sues Chinese Cybercrime Group Behind 'Phishing-for-Dummies' Software

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

It's not just mainstream software firms like Adobe and Microsoft that have pivoted to the "as-a-service" model in recent years. We're now seeing major cybercrime groups charge a monthly subscription for software platforms that can help their users steal money.

Google is suing a major Chinese cybercrime operation, which it said facilitated scams targeting hundreds of thousands of victims, causing losses estimated in the millions.

Roughly 9,000 fake websites and more than 1 million fraudulent URLs are allegedly connected to the group, as well as 55,000 spam texts flagged by Android users in just two weeks in May. The tech giant claims that the group, Outsider Enterprise, distributes phishing kits that enable criminals to run fake text-message campaigns impersonating well-known brands such as Google.

Chinese cybercrime operation that used AI to scam 'hundreds of thousands of victims' sued by Google

Google is suing to dismantle the infrastructure behind an alleged massive AI-powered cybercrime operation.

On Friday, the tech giant announced a lawsuit against an alleged Chinese cybercrime network called Outsider Enterprise, which Google says uses AI in its campaigns to send scam text messages impersonating Google and other brands to steal passwords and credit card numbers. 

Outsider Enterprise has financially scammed “hundreds of thousands of victims” with losses “estimated in the millions.” The group deployed 9,000 fake websites, one million fraudulent web domains, and 2.5 million texts sent to Android users in a two-week period, according to Google. 

The company said, “55,000 spam texts were flagged by Android users in just two weeks this past May — that’s more than two text spam complaints a minute.”

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