Over 2.5 billion users of Gmail service are facing phishing threat, one similar to the case of Sam Mitrovic, a Microsoft solutions consultant.
Mitrovic fell victim to super realistic AI scam calls that trick users into revealing sensitive information or paying for fake services, as per a Forbes report. He received a suspicious notification, allegedly from Google, requesting account recovery approval and a phone call from Sydney, Australia. Mitrovic however, ignored the phone call.
A week later, a similar notification and phone calls ensued in which the caller claimed to be from Google support.
Mitrovic addressed the issue in a blog post warning other Gmail users of the phishing tactic that could compromise users’ account security.
He went on to explain the minute details of the event stating that the scam involves fake emails or notifications prompting users to confirm account recovery or password reset requests that they did not initiate.
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These messages trick users into visiting a counterfeit login page, for the user to enter their credentials to report the unauthorised request.Garry Tan, the founder of venture capital firm and startup accelerator Y Combinator, took to X reporting another phishing scam. In his case, the Google support person created a false scenario that Tan’s family member was attempting to recover his account.
Part of Google Workspace, Google Forms, a free online tool is being used by scammers to create legitimate looking documents sent as part of support scams. The users’ response sheet is sent via original Google servers
AI deepfakes are rampant and affect users’ safety and privacy. Google said it is working closely with Global Anti-Scam Alliance and the DNS Research Federation to tackle the challenges.
