‘2.5 million messages, 9,000 fake websites’: Google says Chinese cybercrime group used Gemini AI to target hundreds of thousands in scam campaign | #cybercrime | #infosec

Google has filed a lawsuit against a Chinese cybercrime network that it says used the company’s Gemini artificial intelligence platform to carry out large-scale online scams targeting hundreds of thousands of people. The technology giant alleges that the group, known as Outsider Enterprise, used AI tools to generate fake websites, fraudulent messages and phishing campaigns that impersonated trusted brands and government services. Google says the scale of the operation highlights how artificial intelligence is changing the fraud landscape and making scams easier to produce.

The case has drawn attention because it combines two major concerns: the rapid rise of AI tools and the growing threat of cybercrime.

According to Google’s lawsuit, the network used Gemini to help build hundreds of fake websites designed to resemble legitimate organisations. The sites allegedly copied services and brands including Google, YouTube, the US Postal Service and New York’s E-ZPass toll payment system. Google says the operation relied on AI-generated content to make scams appear more convincing and to rapidly produce fraudulent websites at scale. They claims the network created 131 software kits that enabled criminals to build thousands of fake webpages and online scams with limited technical effort.

The figures outlined in the lawsuit illustrate the scale of the alleged operation. Google said that during a two-week period in May, the group sent around 2.5 million messages to Android users. Those messages directed victims to approximately 9,000 fake websites and more than one million fraudulent internet addresses connected to the network. The company estimates that hundreds of thousands of people were affected, with most victims located in the United States. Google said the financial damage runs into millions of dollars, although the exact amount has not been determined.

Google, FBI and telecom firms join forces

In what Google described as its first coordinated effort of this kind, the company is working alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation and major wireless providers. The effort includes cooperation with telecommunications companies such as AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. Google has asked a federal court in New York for a restraining order that would allow authorities and technology companies to further disrupt the network’s activities. Halimah DeLaine Prado, Google’s general counsel, said the case reflects the scale of the impact linked to the alleged scam operation.

The case comes as governments, technology firms and law enforcement agencies warn that artificial intelligence is making online fraud more sophisticated. According to the FBI, cybercriminals stole nearly $21 billion from Americans last year. Of that amount, approximately $893 million was linked to AI-related fraud schemes. Officials say AI can help criminals generate realistic messages, fake websites and convincing impersonations far more quickly than traditional methods. Brett Leatherman, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, said criminals are increasingly using AI to make fraud more persuasive and harder to detect.

The lawsuit could become an important test case for how technology companies respond when their AI systems are allegedly misused by criminal networks. While Google argues that AI offers major benefits for businesses and consumers, the company is also signalling that it intends to take legal action against groups that exploit those tools for fraud. The case underscores a broader challenge facing the technology industry: as AI becomes more powerful, preventing misuse is becoming just as important as developing new capabilities.