{“lastseen”:”2025-09-16T14:22:19″,”description”:”If you are under the impression that cybercriminals need to get their hands on compromised AI chatbots to help them do their dirty work, think again.\\n\\nSome AI chatbots are just so user friendly that they can help the user craft phishing text, and even malicious HTML and Javascript code.\\n\\nA few weeks ago we published an article about the actions Anthropic was taking to stop its Claude AI from helping cybercriminals launch a cybercrime spree.\\n\\nA recent investigation by Reuters journalists showed that Grok was more than happy to help them craft and perfect a phishing email targeting senior citizens. Grok is the AI marketed by Elon Musk\u2019s xAI. Reuters reported:\\n\\n\\u003e \u201cGrok generated the deception after being asked by Reuters to create a phishing email targeting the elderly. Without prodding, the bot also suggested fine-tuning the pitch to make it more urgent.\u201d\\n\\nIn January 2025, we told you about a report that AI-supported spear phishing mails were equally as effective as phishing emails thought up by experts, and able to fool more than 50% of targets. But since then, the development of AI has grown exponentially and researchers are worrying about how to recognize AI-crafted phishing.\\n\\nPhishing is the first step in many cybercrime campaigns. It poses an enormous problem with billions of phishing emails sent out every day. AI helps criminals to create more variation which makes pattern detection less effective and it helps them fine tune the messages themselves. And Reuters focused on senior citizens for a reason.\\n\\nThe FBI\u2019s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2024 report confirms that Americans aged 60 and older filed 147,127 complaints and lost nearly $4.9 billion to online fraud, representing a 43% increase in losses and a 46% increase in complaints compared to 2023.\\n\\nBesides Grok, the reporters tested five other popular AI chatbots: ChatGPT, Meta AI, Claude, Gemini, and DeepSeek. Although most of the AI chatbots protested at first and cautioned the user not to use the emails in a real-life scenario, in the end their \u201cwill to please\u201d helped overcome these obstacles.\\n\\nFred Heiding, a Harvard University researcher and an expert in phishing helped Reuters put the crafted emails to the test. Using a targeted approach to reach those most likely to fall for them, about 11% of the seniors clicked on the emails sent to them.\\n\\nAn investigation by Cybernews showed that Yellow.ai, an agentic AI provider for businesses such as Sony, Logitech, Hyundai, Domino\u2019s, and hundreds of other brands could be persuaded to produce malicious HTML and JavaScript code. It even allowed attackers to bypass checks to inject unauthorized code into the system.\\n\\nIn a separate test by Reuters, Gemini produced a phishing email, saying it was \u201cfor educational purposes only,\u201d but helpfully added that \u201cfor seniors, a sweet spot is often Monday to Friday, between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM local time.\u201d\\n\\nAfter damaging reports like these are release, AI companies often build in additional guardrails for their chatbots, but that only highlights an ongoing dilemma in the industry. When providers tighten restrictions to protect users, they risk pushing people toward competing models that don\u2019t play by the same rules.\\n\\nEvery time a platform moves to shut down risky prompts or limit generated content, some users will look for alternatives with fewer safety checks or ethical barriers. That tug of war between user demand and responsible restraint will likely fuel the next round of debate among developers, researchers, and policymakers.\\n\\n* * *\\n\\n**We don ‘t just report on scams\u2014we help detect them**\\n\\nCybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. If something looks dodgy to you, check if it’s a scam using Malwarebytes Scam Guard, a feature of our mobile protection products. Submit a screenshot, paste suspicious content, or share a text or phone number, and we\u2019ll tell you if it’s a scam or legit. Download Malwarebytes Mobile Security for iOS or Android and try it today!”,”published”:”2025-09-16T13:06:17″,”modified”:”2025-09-16T13:06:17″,”type”:”malwarebytes”,”title”:”Grok, ChatGPT, other AIs happy to help phish senior citizens”,”source”:””,”references”:””,”id”:”MALWAREBYTES:5E2BEBEB9FDF838F6D2FA55E0478030E”,”bulletinFamily”:”blog”,”cwe”:null,”cvelist”:[],”sourceData”:””,”sourceHref”:””,”cvss”:{“score”:0,”severity”:”NONE”,”vector”:”NONE”,”version”:”NONE”},”cvss2″:{},”cvss3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””,”cvssV3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””}},”href”:”https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/blog\/news\/2025\/09\/grok-chatgpt-other-ais-happy-to-help-phish-senior-citizens”,”category_name”:”News”,”post_link”:””,”product”:””,”version”:””,”vendor”:””,”ai_description”:””,”ai_severity”:””,”ai_vendor”:””,”ai_product”:””,”ai_version”:””,”ai_score”:0}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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