A phishing email posing as a ChatGPT billing notice pressures users to “update payment information” to avoid service interruption. The button routes through a Google redirect and lands on a fake OpenAI login page that captures usernames and passwords before sending victims to an error page.
This phishing campaign impersonated ChatGPT's billing team with an email warning that the account would be suspended unless payment information was updated within 48 hours. The message included a button labeled to update payment information. Clicking it did not go directly to OpenAI. Instead, the link routed through a Google API redirect at notifications.googleapis.com, which then forwarded the victim's browser to a fake OpenAI login page. That page collected usernames and passwords before sending victims to an error page, a common tactic to reduce suspicion after the credentials were already stolen.
The attack combined a believable pretext with technical camouflage. Billing and payment interruption warnings create urgency, and the 48 hour deadline was designed to push recipients into acting before they closely examined the message. The use of a legitimate Google redirect domain added a layer of false credibility, since a link starting with a recognizable Google address can appear safer than it actually is. The final login page also closely mimicked OpenAI's real sign-in experience, which can fool users who are not carefully checking the browser address bar.
Organizations and individuals using ChatGPT or other OpenAI services for work should train users to slow down when billing emails create urgency. Verifying account or payment issues through a known, trusted channel rather than clicking embedded links reduces risk significantly. Users should also be encouraged to check sender domains carefully, since display names can be spoofed even when the underlying address is not associated with the real company. Finally, before entering any credentials, users should confirm that the browser's address bar shows the legitimate auth.openai.com domain. Building this habit into regular awareness training, particularly for finance and helpdesk teams that regularly interact with billing communications, can meaningfully reduce the chance that a similar campaign succeeds.
Mirage safely runs attacks like this one against your own team, so you find out what happens before a real adversary does.
The email impersonated ChatGPT's billing team and warned that the account would be suspended if payment wasn't updated within 48 hours, pressuring recipients to click a payment button without checking the details.
The payment button routed through a Google API redirect at notifications.googleapis.com before forwarding victims to the attacker's fake OpenAI login page, making the link look safer than it was.
The sender address used a nxcli.io domain instead of an OpenAI address, and the login page did not appear at auth.openai.com, both signs the request was fraudulent.
Anyone using ChatGPT or OpenAI accounts, including employees across departments, finance teams, and IT/helpdesk staff who might be asked to verify or update payment details.
You get an email from “ChatGPT” saying: “Urgent: Update Your Payment Method to Avoid Service Interruption.” Sounds legit, right? Here’s the trick: the big green button sends you to a Google redirect at notifications.googleapis.com, then drops you on a fake OpenAI login page that quietly steals your username and password. The aha: everything looks like OpenAI, but the clues are in the tiny text, sender is support@9527db6e1a.nxcli.io, the link starts with notifications.googleapis.com, and the real sign-in should be at auth.openai.com. If you get an urgent ChatGPT billing email, don’t click the button, open your browser, type auth.openai.com yourself, and sign in there to check your account.
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