A new form of scam is targeting internet users with Gmail accounts. It takes the form of a phishing email coupled with a phone call generated by artificial intelligence designed to extract personal information. Users should be particularly vigilant in the face of these increasingly sophisticated attacks.
Used by over 2.5 billion people worldwide, Gmail is now the target of hackers making use of AI. This new threat combines fraudulent emails and calls, each time masquerading as official Google services. And this time, hackers are using artificial intelligence capable of imitating human voices.
This summer, a security expert called Sam Mitrovic was the first to warn of this scam, which is currently on the increase. It starts with a tried-and-tested phishing technique that involves sending Gmail users a notification to approve an account recovery attempt, which takes the user to a fake login portal designed, of course, to steal their username and password. What's new is that if the user doesn't provide this information, they receive a strange phone call a few minutes later.
Sam Mitrovoc explains that you're then put through to a man with an American accent, but whose number is from Australia, asking for information about your account. In his personal case, however, the security specialist soon realised that it was actually an AI voice, with pronunciation and spacing that seemed just a bit too perfect, even if it was still impressive and worryingly convincing.
In the face of these increasingly sophisticated scams, users should be more vigilant than ever and never respond to suspicious emails or phone calls. – AFP Relaxnews
