In recent times, the public’s interest in artificial intelligence has made it an attractive target for hackers and scammers. These attackers have been taking advantage of the popularity of technologies such as ChatGPT, by developing and deploying fleeceware apps on Google Play and Apple’s App Store. They are attempting to deceive and trick users into paying costly subscription fees, by disguising the app as a free trial version of ChatGPT.
These apps operate in a deceptive manner, by not fully disclosing the subscription pricing information and bombarding users with ads, until they pay for the premium version. This has been noted by security researcher Sean Gallagher at Sophos, who observed that these malicious apps take advantage of social media platforms by using ads, coupled with deceptive practices, to lure users in.
In order to prevent being taken advantage of, users should only download applications that are accessible on the official site for the service, such as Open Chat GPT, which is the only official version available for Android. It is wise to also go through the subscription terms and avoid signing up for any unauthorized version.
OpenAI is the company behind the development of language AI models such as ChatGPT. Founded in 2015, it is an artificial intelligence research laboratory based in San Francisco, with the goal of “advancing digital intelligence”. OpenAI works on the most advanced AI systems in the world and has been focused on advancing human-level AI.
Sean Gallagher is a Senior Threat Researcher at Sophos. He has over 10 years of experience in the security industry and is an expert in threat intelligence. In his work as a Senior Threat Researcher, he has developed a keen eye for risk while working on a variety of projects. In his current role, he’s focused on monitoring digital threats and analyzing the risk posed by spam, malware, and other malicious activities, in order to protect users from potential online attacks.
