Cofense observed a real phishing email that impersonates OpenAI/ChatGPT billing to trick users into “updating” payment details. The email uses the real ChatGPT logo, urgency (“48 hours”), and a prominent button to drive clicks to a lookalike ChatGPT login page. Any credentials entered are harvested and the victim is then redirected to an error page.
The email impersonates OpenAI's ChatGPT billing team, using the real ChatGPT logo to build immediate visual trust. It opens with bold text reading Subscription Payment Required and includes a 48 hour deadline to create urgency. A large, centered button labeled Update Payment Information invites the recipient to click through. That click routes through a Google APIs redirect wrapper before landing on a phishing site hosted on a lookalike domain, where a page closely mimicking the real ChatGPT login prompts the victim to enter their username and password. After submission, the credentials are harvested and the user is redirected to a generic error page, a common tactic used to avoid raising suspicion immediately after the theft.
This attack relied on a combination of familiar branding, urgency, and a legitimate-seeming redirect chain. The real ChatGPT logo made the email look authentic at a glance, while the billing update pretext is the kind of routine request many employees, finance teams, and executives receive regularly for various SaaS tools. Using a Google APIs redirect before the final malicious destination added a layer of apparent legitimacy that could pass a quick, casual inspection. The urgency created by the 48 hour deadline discouraged the kind of careful verification that would have exposed the scheme.
Organizations and individuals who rely on ChatGPT or other AI/SaaS tools should treat any billing or payment update email as high risk and verify by navigating directly to the service rather than clicking embedded links. Hovering over buttons and links before clicking can reveal redirect wrappers and mismatched domains. Checking the sender's actual email address, not just the displayed name or logo, is a simple but effective habit. Most importantly, if a login page's URL doesn't match the service's known domain, such as OpenAI's real authentication domain, users should stop and treat the page as a likely credential theft attempt rather than entering any information.
Mirage safely runs attacks like this one against your own team, so you find out what happens before a real adversary does.
The attacker sends a fraudulent subscription invoice email impersonating OpenAI, using the real ChatGPT logo and an urgent 48 hour deadline to pressure the recipient into clicking an Update Payment Information button, which leads to a lookalike ChatGPT login page that harvests entered credentials.
The sender address is not a legitimate OpenAI domain, the button link uses a Google APIs redirect wrapper before landing on the malicious site, and the email relies on urgent deadline language to push immediate action.
The real ChatGPT login is hosted at auth.openai.com, and the phishing page's displayed domain does not match that address, so checking the browser address bar before entering credentials can reveal the fake.
The entered username and password are sent to the attacker and the victim is then redirected to an error page, which is a common indicator of credential harvesting.
You get an email: real ChatGPT logo, subject line screams “Subscription Payment Required.” Looks routine, right? But the sender is support@9527db6e1a.nxcli.io, and that big button actually goes through notifications.googleapis.com before landing on a fake ChatGPT login page. You sign in, it “errors out,” and you move on… but your OpenAI credentials were just harvested. The only real giveaway? The login URL was not auth.openai.com. So when you see a ChatGPT billing email, don’t touch the button. Go to chat.openai.com or auth.openai.com yourself and check from there.
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