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SCAMMERS MIMIC CHATGPT TO STEAL BUSINESS CREDENTIALS

Hackers will take anything newsworthy and turn it against you, including the
world's most advanced AI-enabled chatbot.
Nate Nelson
Contributing Writer, Dark Reading
February 22, 2023
Source: Atchariya Wattanakul via Alamy Stock Photo
PDF


Scammers are capitalizing on the runaway popularity of and interest in ChatGPT,
the natural language processing AI — impersonating it in order to infect victims
with a Trojan malware called Fobo, in order to steal login credentials for
business accounts.



ChatGPT is the world's most advanced chatbot, published by developers OpenAI
back in November. It’s been a resounding success: It's regularly overloaded with
users demanding that it write marketing copy, or poems, or answer questions
about philosophy. (In fact, OpenAI has developed a $20-per-month subscription
plan for users who want to bypass these slowdowns.) And a meme has been making
the Internet rounds recently, about how long it took the world's biggest apps to
reach 1 million users. Netflix, for example, took 3.5 years. Facebook, 10
months. Spotify, five months. ChatGPT? Five days.

In the same way they do any big news item — COVID-19, the Ukraine war, take your
pick — hackers have twisted the popularity of ChatGPT into phishing bait. And
now, according to a blog post from Kaspersky, a fresh campaign is utilizing
social media impersonation to lead unsuspecting victims to a fake ChatGPT
landing page, where "signing up" means downloading an info-stealing Trojan
called Fobo. The Trojan seeks out business account credentials, which could be
used for follow-on attacks of a greater scale.

According to the report, this blatant scam has already spread to Africa, the
Americas, Asia, and Europe.




FAKING CHATGPT TO HACK BUSINESS ACCOUNTS

The researchers at Kaspersky have observed grifters running social media
accounts that either impersonate the OpenAI/ChatGPT brand directly or pretend to
be communities for fans of the program.



Sometimes, the accounts post neutral content relating to ChatGPT, with a
malicious link at the bottom. Other times, according to the blog post, they post
"fake credentials for the pre-created accounts that are said to provide access
to ChatGPT. To motivate potential users even further, the attackers say that
each account already has US $50 on its balance, which can be spent on using the
chatbot."

The real program has an entirely optional subscription plan but is otherwise
free to use for the general public.

Unwitting social media users who follow the malicious links in these posts land
on a ChatGPT homepage, which is like for like with the real thing in almost
every way.

A convincing fake ChatGPT. Source: Kaspersky




Clicking the "download" button — suspicious in itself, as ChatGPT has no desktop
client — triggers the installation of an executable file.

"If this archive is unpacked and the executable file run," according to
Kaspersky researchers, "then, depending on the version of Windows, the user sees
either a message saying installation failed for some reason, or no message at
all — at which point the process seems to end."

Behind the scenes, however, a Trojan horse has been unleashed. The Trojan looks
for login credentials for apps like Google, Facebook, and TikTok, stored in the
victim's browser. But in particular, Kaspersky explained, it's looking for
usernames and passwords for business accounts.

With employee usernames and passwords, the attackers could possibly perform more
significant follow-on attacks against enterprises.

"On finding a business account in one of these services," the researchers
explained, "it tries to get additional information, such as how much money was
spent on advertising from the account and what its current balance is."


HOW TO AVOID CHATGPT SCAMS

That the perpetrators of this campaign chose ChatGPT as their vehicle is no
coincidence. Among its many more frivolous uses, the chatbot has proven popular
in business settings. Employees are using it to write emails, copy, and
marketing materials faster, support interviews and research projects, and much
more.



To avoid engaging with a malicious fake, though, Kaspersky recommended avoiding
"offers" like those from this story, utilizing security software, and not
clicking on links — better to go through a search engine or type the URL
straight into your browser.

As of this writing, Kaspersky has not responded to a direct request for comment
by Dark Reading. So, in substitute, we asked the ChatGPT bot to provide insight
on the matter. It had this to say:

"In conclusion, the rise of hackers impersonating ChatGPT to steal login
credentials is a serious threat that should not be underestimated. The
implications of such attacks are far-reaching and potentially devastating for
individuals, organizations, and even entire industries. As technology continues
to evolve, we can expect these types of attacks to become more sophisticated and
difficult to detect. It is, therefore, imperative that individuals and
organizations take proactive measures to protect themselves, such as regularly
changing passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, and staying vigilant for
signs of phishing attacks. Only by working together and taking these steps can
we hope to mitigate the risks posed by hackers impersonating ChatGPT and other
forms of cybercrime in the future."

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