KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 – Palo Alto Networks, a global leader in cybersecurity, has released a research report from its threat intelligence team, Unit 42, highlighting the alarming rise of scams leveraging the growing popularity of generative AI, particularly ChatGPT. The study exposes the various tactics employed by scammers to deceive users into divulging sensitive information or installing malicious software. Concrete instances and case studies are provided to illustrate these deceptive methods.
The research focuses on phishing URLs that masquerade as the official OpenAI website, aiming to dupe users into downloading malware or disclosing confidential information. Scammers create counterfeit websites that closely resemble the genuine ChatGPT site, exploiting users’ trust and misguiding them into paying for services that OpenAI offers for free. Key findings from the report include The AI ChatGPT extension can inject a highly obfuscated JavaScript background script into the victim’s browser. This script utilizes the Facebook API to pilfer the victim’s account details and potentially gain further unauthorized access.
Unit 42 observed a staggering 910% increase in monthly domain registrations related to ChatGPT between November 2022 and April 2023. The Palo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering system identified over 100 daily detections of malicious URLs associated with ChatGPT during the same period. The team also noted an astonishing 18,000% growth in squatting domains based on DNS security logs, indicating the extent of scammers’ efforts to deceive unsuspecting users. Unit 42 discovered numerous phishing URLs attempting to impersonate official OpenAI websites.
These fraudulent sites closely mimic the appearance of the authentic ChatGPT website, leading users to unwittingly download malware or share sensitive information. Despite OpenAI’s provision of a free version of ChatGPT, scammers employ deceptive tactics to mislead victims into believing they must pay for these services on fraudulent websites. Palo Alto Networks remains committed to combating these scams and protecting users from falling victim to malicious activities. By raising awareness and understanding of these fraudulent schemes, individuals can stay vigilant and safeguard themselves against cyber threats associated with the increasing popularity of ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies.
