OpenAI says it disrupted a Cambodia-based scam network operating from Poipet that used ChatGPT to scale romance, investment, gambling, and law-enforcement impersonation scams. The group used messaging apps to build trust, then pressured victims to pay deposits, activation fees, or fake fines, backing the story with forged documents and screenshots.
Mirage safely runs attacks like this one against your own team, so you find out what happens before a real adversary does.
Imagine this: a perfect match from a dating app messages, “Hey, your profile stood out. Want to chat here on WhatsApp?” OpenAI just shut down a Poipet, Cambodia scam ring using ChatGPT to run romance, crypto and spot-gold “tips,” fake gambling bonuses, even law-enforcement fines over WhatsApp and Telegram. Their playbook is “ping–zing–sting”: first ping you on WhatsApp or Telegram, then zing you with long, friendly chat, and finally sting you with deposits, activation fees, or fake fines backed only by screenshots and forged documents. If any chat relationship suddenly pivots to deposits, activation fees, or fines, especially with screenshot “proof”–your move is simple: stop, don’t pay, and call the real person or organization using a number you already trust.
OpenAI says it shut down a coordinated network of ChatGPT accounts linked to Cambodia that supported multiple real-world scams, including investment, romance, gambling, and law-enforcement impersonation. The group used AI to create fake personas, translate and generate persuasive messages on…
Researchers linked the Iran-aligned Handala Hack persona to a Telegram-controlled backdoor (HEAVYGRAM) that can steal passwords and exfiltrate chat data. The campaign reportedly starts with social engineering on messaging apps (Telegram, WhatsApp, Instagram), where the attacker pretends to offer…
UK, US, and Dutch agencies warned that Iranian state-linked actors used social messaging apps to build trust with dissidents, journalists, and activists before sending disguised files that install Windows malware. The attackers often impersonated someone the target already knows or “technical…
The bulletin describes real-world social engineering where staff were tricked into disclosing sensitive data or access. In one case, Revolut employees responded to fraudulent information requests sent from a real government-domain email account, exposing extensive customer records. Separately,…
Microsoft described two real-world campaigns: an invoice fraud blast impersonating executives to trick finance teams into ACH payments, and a passkey-themed helpdesk scam that steals or bypasses authentication to take over Microsoft cloud accounts. In the second campaign, victims are called or…
This bulletin describes multiple real-world social engineering campaigns where attackers impersonate IT support or use trusted-looking sharing and “Allow” prompts to gain access. Several campaigns abuse Microsoft Teams and document-sharing lures to trick employees into installing remote tools or…
