Google sues scammers for using fake Bard download – 11/13/2023 – Tech

Google filed a lawsuit in a United States court on Monday (13) against individuals accused of selling fake “downloads” of its Bard artificial intelligence chatbot to install a virus on victims’ computers.

Google said the alleged scammers are misusing its trademarks with names like “Google AI” and “AIGoogleBard” to trick users into installing malware, which the tech giant says allows defendants to steal login credentials from social media.

Google’s general counsel, Halimah DeLaine Prado, said in a statement that the scammers “scammed numerous people around the world” and that the company has filed nearly 300 related takedown requests.

Prado said such lawsuits are “an effective tool to establish legal precedent and disrupt the tools used by scammers.

Google publicly released Bard in March.

The lawsuit filed Monday says scammers use social media posts to advertise free downloads of Bard, which in reality cannot be downloaded. They then use malware downloaded by victims to take control of their social media accounts.

The company said targets of the scheme include small businesses and other Facebook advertisers.

Google also accused the defendants of violating its terms of service by impersonating the company and hosting the malware on Google Sites and Google Drive.