That suspicious text about an unpaid toll, a delayed delivery package, or expiring rewards points may no longer be the work of a lone scammer. These scam texts have been flooding American phones for years, but something has changed.
Google says artificial intelligence is helping fraudsters run larger and more convincing operations than ever before. The company has now filed a lawsuit against a cybercrime network that used Gemini AI to create phishing websites and power a massive scam campaign targeting millions of users.
AI scams are getting harder to spot
Google’s lawsuit targets a Chinese cybercrime network called the Outsider Enterprise. The group coordinated through Telegram and distributed phishing kits to criminals around the world.
Using Google’s Gemini AI, they built fake websites impersonating trusted brands like Google, YouTube, and even the US Postal Service. They used AI to create hundreds of imposter websites at a scale that simply was not possible before.
The group created over 9,000 fake websites and more than one million fraudulent URLs. In just two weeks ending June 1, Android users flagged 55,000 suspicious texts, and the Outsider Enterprise sent 2.5 million messages containing links to fake websites.
The FBI estimates the operation has stolen 3.87 million credit card numbers from victims across dozens of countries, with total losses reaching $1.9 billion since July 2023 (via WSJ).
What is Google doing about it?
Google is asking a New York federal court to shut down the operation entirely. The company is working alongside the FBI and carriers AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon to block these texts before they reach your phone.
Google’s built-in messaging defenses already intercept over 10 billion malicious messages every month, and Android’s scam detection tool flags suspicious calls and contacts in real time.
Google is also pushing for seven bipartisan bills in Congress to make these protections permanent, arguing that legal action alone will not be enough to stop a threat that AI has made effectively limitless.