Google Sues Chinese Crime Group for Allegedly Using Gemini AI for Mass Phishing Scams

Googling has filed a lawsuit Friday against alleged Chinese cybercrime network Outsider Enterprise for using the company’s Gemini AI to automate fraudulent text messaging campaigns that targeted hundreds of thousands of U.S. victims with phishing sites designed to steal financial credentials.

According to court documents, the defendants allegedly used Gemini AI to generate code and templates for fake websites that mimicked legitimate telecom portals. The FBI said the operation targeted more than 8,000 phishing websites in dozens of countries.

Google received approximately 55,000 reports of suspicious messages on Google Messages in the two-week period ending June 1, many of which are believed to be related to Outsider Enterprise. The same court documents show that the network has stolen an estimated 3.87 million credit card numbers, contributing to approximately $1.9 billion in losses since July 2023.

The phishing sites reportedly targeted various financial accounts, including cryptocurrency wallets and exchange credentials, as scammers increasingly target digital asset holders who may have less recourse than traditional bank customers.

The lawsuit comes as AI-powered financial scams are on the rise in the United States. The FBI received a total of 1,008,597 internet crime reports complaints in 2025with crypto-related complaints accounting for 181,565 reports and $11 billion in losses – the highest of any category.

For the first time in its nearly 25-year history, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center dedicated a section to artificial intelligence scams, which generated 22,364 complaints and cost Americans nearly $893 million. The agency’s Operation Level Up, launched in 2024, has notified more than 8,000 victims of cryptocurrency fraud and prevented more than $500 million in potential losses.

Research has shown that even leading AI models can do that encourage harmful behaviorwhich worries companies like Apple Integrate AI capabilities in consumer products. The Google lawsuit marks a turning point in the effort to hold bad actors accountable for weaponizing AI tools against financial systems.