Google announced a lawsuit to dismantle an alleged AI-powered cybercrime network accused of using fake text campaigns, fraudulent websites and impersonated brands to steal Americans’ money and personal information.
The company said in a blog post that the civil lawsuit targets an organized cybercrime operation known as the “Outsider Enterprise,” which it said is based in China and coordinates through Telegram to distribute phishing kits used in large-scale scam campaigns.
Phishing Kits Built for Mass Deception
Google said the group created tools that allow criminals to send fake text messages designed to look like they come from trusted brands, including Google.
The campaigns include familiar scams such as fake package alerts, urgent bank warnings and messages claiming a user’s account has been compromised. Victims are then pushed toward fraudulent websites built to steal passwords, credit card numbers and other personal data.
In a separate post on X, Google said the group had used AI tools, including Gemini, to generate convincing fake government and brand websites at speed. The company also accused the operation of using Google products, trademarks and logos as part of the phishing campaigns.
Numbers Point to a Massive Scam Machine
Google said the operation had reached more than 100,000 victims and caused losses estimated in the millions of dollars.
The company said it had identified 9,000 fake websites and more than 1 million fraudulent URLs connected to the group.
It also said Android users flagged 55,000 spam texts in just two weeks in May, while 2.5 million messages containing links to Outsider-generated websites were sent to Android users over the same period.
Google Seeks to Cut Off the Scam Pipeline
Google said it is coordinating with the FBI, which it said will take law enforcement actions, while continuing to work with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon to block scam texts before they reach users.
The company said litigation alone will not end the threat, calling for federal legislation to make anti-scam protections more permanent as fraud campaigns become more automated and harder to detect, adding that it is backing seven bipartisan bills, including the National Strategy for Combatting Scams Act.
Google concluded by saying it is using AI-powered tools to fight AI-powered scams, including Android scam detection and messaging defenses that intercept more than 10 billion malicious messages each month.
