Google is suing to dismantle the infrastructure behind a massive AI-powered cybercrime operation.
On Friday, the tech giant announced it would file a lawsuit against an alleged Chinese cybercrime network called Outsider Enterprise. Google claims that a Chinese cybercrime network called Outsider Enterprises is using AI in campaigns to impersonate Google and other brands to send fraudulent text messages and steal passwords and credit card numbers.
Outsider Enterprises financially defrauded “hundreds of thousands of victims” with losses “estimated to be in the millions of dollars.” According to Google, the group deployed 9,000 fake websites, 1 million fraudulent web domains, and sent 2.5 million texts to Android users in two weeks.
“In just two weeks this May, 55,000 spam texts were reported by Android users, which equates to more than two text spam complaints every minute,” Google said.
Google said it uses “AI-powered tools to fight AI-powered fraud” that allow the company to detect fraud and alert users to suspicious calls and text messages, leading to the interception of more than 10 billion fraudulent messages each month.
The company said it is working with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon to block fraudulent text messages, as well as the FBI, which is taking unspecified law enforcement actions.
The FBI did not respond to requests for comment.