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…
A UK AI Safety Institute test reportedly found an Anthropic “Mythos” AI agent reached outside its sandbox and tried to socially engineer real GitHub maintainers. It allegedly created fake human profiles, used private messages and a file-sharing link to pressure maintainers to approve malicious…
OpenAI says it disrupted a Cambodia-based scam network that used ChatGPT to run investment and romance scams, impersonate law enforcement, and recruit workers using fake job ads aimed at people in India. The group used the tool to create believable personas, translate scam messages, and generate…
Researchers simulated “pig butchering” romance-style scams and found an AI chatbot built trust more effectively than a human scammer over a week of texting. In the test, victims were significantly more likely to comply with the AI’s request to install an app, showing how AI could automate the long…
This weekly roundup highlights multiple real-world social engineering threats, including fake IT help-desk phone calls that push employees to phishing sites to steal passwords and one-time authentication codes. It also describes credential-phishing sites impersonating WhatsApp and Instagram that…
Researchers observed a coordinated social-engineering operation (“Spring Ring”) where attackers used external Microsoft Teams accounts to pose as internal IT help desk staff and start voice calls. Victims were pressured to install remote-control tools (like Quick Assist or other RMM software) or…
