Google has filed a lawsuit against scammers who tried to trick users into downloading malware by impersonating its generated AI chatbots.

Like OpenAI's ChatGPT, the scammers were quick to take advantage of Google Bard's release earlier this year. Neither AI tool was immediately available to the public, and interested users had to join a waiting list before gaining access. In the meantime, scammers intervened by promising quick access to both Bard and ChatGPT.

According to a new blog post from Google, the search giant plans to take legal action against two groups of scammers who exploited Bard online. The first group used generative AI hype to spread malware, while the second group allegedly used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) as a weapon to file thousands of blatantly fraudulent copyright notices to harm their competitors.

While fake copyright notices are dangerous in and of themselves, tricking unsuspecting users into downloading malware when they are actually trying to access a free service is, in my opinion, an even worse crime. With Google's lawsuit in California against the scammers behind this campaign, this will be less of an issue in the future.

Still, here's what you need to watch out for now regarding online Google Card scams.

The scammers named in Google's lawsuit used Facebook's broad reach and user base to target unsuspecting users.

They did this by creating several Facebook pages, including "Google AI," "AIGoogle," and "AIGoogleBard." To make these pages appear legitimate, they used Google's logo, marketing colors, and even a picture of the company's CEO, Sundar Pichai.

Google Bard is completely free online. However, a Facebook page created by the scammers encouraged people to "download" Bard instead. At the same time, they placed ads on social media networks urging unsuspecting users to do the same.

Both of these fake Facebook pages and ads led people to malicious websites and had them download malware onto their computers instead of Google Bard. Google has not disclosed the type of malware used in these attacks, but has revealed that the malware was subsequently used to steal Facebook and other social media accounts.

Creating a sense of urgency is one of the main ways hackers, cybercriminals, and even fraudsters trick people into falling for their schemes. In this case, however, Google did most of the work for the scammers by hiding access to its generated AI tools behind a waiting list.

For this reason, one should always exercise extreme caution when trying to gain access to new tools or software products. If there is a waiting list, you want to be on the lookout for people who say they have tricks or hacks to bypass it. It is also important to do your own research, as a simple web search reveals that the Google Bard app does not currently exist, so any Facebook page or ad suggesting that you can download a new tool is instantly suspect.

To protect yourself from malware and other viruses that may enter your computer by trying to quickly access Google Bard or other new generated AI tools, you need to run one of the best antivirus software solutions on your PC . The same goes for your Mac with the best Mac antivirus software and your smartphone with the best Android antivirus app.

Scammers and other cybercriminals will continue to use the same tactics every time a new AI tool is released.