Attackers used a sponsored search ad to send macOS users to a fake “OpenAI Codex download” page hosted on Google Sites. The page convinced victims to open Terminal and paste a command that secretly downloaded and ran a multi-stage malware infection.
Mirage safely runs attacks like this one against your own team, so you find out what happens before a real adversary does.
On your Mac, you Google “codex macos download” and click the top result, looks like OpenAI, right? It’s a sponsored ad. That ad sends you to a Google Sites page that mimics an OpenAI Codex download portal. It even offers macOS and Linux, but the content is actually loaded through an iframe the attacker controls. The page tells you: “Open Terminal and paste this command to install Codex.” That command quietly decodes a Base64 URL, downloads a script, pipes it into zsh, and drops a helper file in /tmp, classic Atomic macOS Stealer–style behavior. Here’s the rule: if a website tells you to paste a Terminal command to install software, stop. Close it, and get the tool only from the official vendor site or our internal software portal.
Attackers are buying sponsored Google search ads that send Mac developers to fake OpenAI Codex download pages. The pages instruct victims to paste a Terminal command that looks like a normal install step, but actually downloads and runs a multi-stage malware payload.
Researchers described AmnesiaStealer, a macOS info-stealer spread through a counterfeit “Download for macOS” page that tricks users into pasting a command into Terminal. The malware steals passwords and browser session data, and can even give an attacker live, hidden control of the victim’s browser…
Attackers ran sponsored search ads that led macOS users to a fake “OpenAI Codex” download page hosted on Google Sites. The site used “ClickFix” style instructions to convince victims to open Terminal and paste a command that quietly downloaded and ran a multi-stage macOS malware chain.
Zenity demonstrated real-world attack chains where hidden instructions in emails or content on X can hijack AI “agentic browsers” (ChatGPT Atlas and the Claude Chrome extension). In the demos, the AI agent can be steered to perform actions in the user’s already logged-in sessions, sending phishing…
Researchers showed how a malicious web page could trick OpenAI’s Atlas AI-enabled browser into taking actions a user didn’t intend, like spamming WhatsApp contacts or modifying an Amazon account. The attacks used prompt-injection style instructions hidden in a seemingly legitimate “newsletter…
Check Point reports that scammers are now impersonating ChatGPT/OpenAI in phishing campaigns, reflecting how mainstream the service has become. One documented example used a fake “ChatGPT Plus payment failure” notice that sent victims to a fraudulent payment page designed to capture full credit…
