Google has initiated legal action against two groups of scammers, marking a significant move to protect its interests and users. Halimah Prado, Google’s General Counsel, announced this development on Monday, outlining the nature of the fraudulent activities.

The first group of scammers sought to capitalize on the public’s growing excitement for generative AI. They did this by spreading malware under the guise of Google’s AI tool, Bard. Prado highlighted that unlike the authentic Google Bard, which doesn’t require downloads, these fraudulent versions were downloadable, leading to unsuspecting users installing harmful software.NYSC Portal

The second group of scammers abused the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). They submitted thousands of false copyright notices, aiming to undermine their business competitors.

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Google’s lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California, accuses the scammers of creating social media accounts to promote a fake version of Bard. Users who downloaded this version inadvertently installed malware on their devices, compromising their social media accounts and potentially other sensitive information.InformationGuideNigeria

This legal move by Google, a global leader in various technology domains including AI, online advertising, and cloud computing, underscores the company’s commitment to safeguarding its technology and users from fraudulent and malicious activities. The case also highlights the broader challenges in the tech industry related to cybersecurity and intellectual property rights.

“As public excitement in new generative AI tools has increased, scammers are increasingly taking advantage of unsuspecting users. Our first lawsuit targets bad actors who misled numerous people around the world looking to use Google’s AI tools into unknowingly downloading malware. The fraudsters created social media pages and ran ads that encouraged people to “download” Bard, our freely available generative AI tool that does not need to be downloaded.JAMB Result

The ads instead led people to download malware that compromised their social media accounts. Since April, we have filed roughly 300 takedowns related to this group of bad actors.