Technology giant Google is filing a lawsuit aimed at stopping a cybercriminal group named Outside Enterprise. The group allegedly uses artificial intelligence (AI), including Gemini, to run scams.
Google claims the group, made up of software developers, creates AI toolkits that are used to generate duplicate clones of government and brand websites. These fake websites are then used to steal credit card numbers and personal information from victims.
“The scale of the operation is massive; hundreds of thousands of victims have been financially scammed with losses estimated in the millions,” the company claims in a statement.
Outside Enterprise AI toolkits have allegedly created 9,000 fake websites and over 1 million fraudulent URLs. Since they began operations, the scammers have sent 2.5 million messages to Android users containing links to the scam websites in just two weeks.
Alert Android users flagged 55,000 spam texts within the first two weeks after the scam group launched its operations in May. The group was actively pumping out an average of two scam messages every minute.
READ: Gmail Warns 2.5 Billion Users of AI-Powered Phishing Scams
Google claims Outsider Enterprise operates from China and uses the messenger app Telegram to coordinate its operations.
“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 stated.
Anti-Scam Laws in Congress
The tech company is coordinating with other institutions to stop these scammers.
Beyond legal action, Google is teaming up with the FBI to pursue law enforcement measures. They are also working directly with telcos AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon to block these scam texts from ever reaching users’ phones.
Congress is also stepping in to help curb the menace with legislation. Seven bipartisan bills to fight back against scams, including those created with AI, are in the pipeline.
“My Stop SCAMS Act would bring every level of government together to aggressively crack down on scams and the organized crime rings behind them. I’m grateful to have Google’s support and look forward to partnering with law enforcement and industry partners to stop cyber scams,” Congressman Josh Harder said.
