Google has filed suit in federal district court in California to stop alleged fraudsters from leveraging public interest in artificial intelligence generally and Bard in particular to spread malware. The perpetrators, who are believed to be based in Vietnam, are said to be using Facebook to promote an “unpublished” version of Bard that when downloaded installs password-stealing malware into the host system. The suit claims the scammers are using Google’s trademark-protected intellectual property — including its name and that of Bard, its brand look and colors, and photographs of CEO Sundar Pichai to promote an illegal scheme.

“Defendants are three individuals whose identities are unknown who claim to provide, among other things, ‘the latest version of Google Bard for download,’ the lawsuit reads,” according to The Verge, which goes on to quote that “defendants are not affiliated with Google in any way, though they pretend to be. They have used Google trademarks, including Google, Google AI, and Bard to lure unsuspecting victims into downloading malware onto their computers.’”

The lawsuit specifies the scammers have “promoted Facebook posts in an attempt to distribute malware.”

The Alphabet subsidiary writes in a blog post that it is “taking legal action against two groups of scammers. The first sought to exploit public enthusiasm for generative AI to spread malware. The second weaponized the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to harm their business competitors by submitting thousands of blatantly fraudulent copyright notices.”

The second lawsuit, also filed in the Northern District of California, alleges fraudsters “set up dozens of Google accounts and used them to submit thousands of false copyright claims against their competitors,” detailing that two individuals created 65 or more Google accounts that were used to submit what Bloomberg describes as “thousands of fraudulent notices of copyright infringement against more than 117,000 websites.”

Google General Counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado writes in the company blog post that the legal actions “are part of our ongoing legal strategy to protect consumers and small businesses, and establish needed legal precedents in emerging fields of innovation.”

Google is asking the federal court to shut down the Facebook pages it says are designed “to trick people interested in Google’s AI tools into downloading a credential-stealing malware,” writes Axios, explaining that “the defendants are believed to be running several Facebook pages — including ‘Google AI,’ ‘AIGoogle,’ ‘AIGoogleBard.’”

Scammers think they can game the system by operating from places that don’t honor extradition treaties with the United States. Because of that, hackers “don’t have the same fear of jail time that might deter other criminals,” Axios reports, noting that to prosecute cybercrimes companies have begun turning to copyright law, which offers more international protections.

“Microsoft and cybersecurity company Fortra used copyright law earlier this year to root out illegitimate copies of the security tool Cobalt Strike,” according to Axios.

Related:
Google Sues to Block AI Ads Preying on Small Businesses, The Wall Street Journal, 11/13/23