You: “Sweet! ChatGPT just wrote that email to my landlord for me.”
A hacker: “Sweet! ChatGPT just wrote some phishing emails for me.”
I wish I were kidding, folks. New tech tools don’t just mean something useful for you and me. The bad guys get access, too, and you better believe they’re using chatbots to create even better campaigns to trick you.
Robots for bad guys
Security researchers dived deep into how scammers use chatbots to level up their shady games and uncovered WormGPT and FraudGPT.
Think ChatGPT without a moral compass. All chatbots are trained on large pools of data. WormGPT and FraudGPT are specifically trained on malware-related data. No bueno.
WormGPT makes a bogus email sound like it’s coming straight from your bank or employer. A FraudGPT gives hackers tips on the best websites to target for credit card fraud and spits out bank identification numbers to make crimes even easier.
ChatGPT, Bard and other “good guy” chatbots also refuse to respond to prompts that could be used for not-so-good purposes. The hacker chatbots don’t have the little (digital) angel on their shoulder, so they’ll whip up whatever illegal or immoral content a criminal needs.
Arm yourself with info
Just when you thought you had your brain wrapped around online scams … Here are the AI-related tricks you need to know about:
- Fake ChatGPT websites and apps look just like the real thing. Here’s the legit link for iPhone and Android.
- AI social media scams use sponsored ads and posts to get you to download malware.
- AI phishing scams are usually emails with a shady sense of urgency, pretending to be a legitimate company or bank. They’ll ask for money or your personal info ASAP and include malicious links.
- AI voice cloning scams fool you into thinking a loved one is hurt, in jail or in an emergency situation that requires money.
- AI investment scammers pose as cryptocurrency gurus and promise huge returns on fake investments.
It’s the Wild West out there, folks. That’s why I’m glad you’re here. The more you know, the less likely you are to be the one who falls for this stuff.