According to Forbes, Google just issued updated warnings about six major scam trends targeting Gmail, Google Messages and Google Play users. The company’s vice president of trust and safety Laurie Richardson confirmed that 57% of adults experienced a scam in the past year, with 23% reporting money stolen. Google’s security teams are seeing scammers increasingly turn to AI tools to “efficiently scale and enhance their schemes.” The warnings come alongside details about protections Google has built into its services, including Gmail’s automatic phishing detection and Messages’ scam detection features. This follows recent surges in attacks against Google Calendar users and Chrome browser exploits.
AI scams getting smarter
Here’s the thing that really worries me about this trend. Scammers are now exploiting the AI hype cycle itself as a social engineering tool. They’re creating fake AI services, promising free or exclusive access, and using malicious ads to distribute their garbage. What’s particularly concerning is that Google‘s Threat Intelligence Group is seeing threat actors actually using AI to bypass safety guardrails – they’re getting creative with their prompts to make AI systems spill information they shouldn’t. Basically, we’re entering an era where both sides are using AI, and the bad guys are getting surprisingly sophisticated about it.
The job scam problem
And then there are the job scams that just won’t quit. Google says these are rising in number, with scammers creating incredibly detailed imitations of official career pages and fake recruiter profiles. They’re even hitting government recruitment postings now. Think about it – when someone’s desperately looking for work, they’re way more vulnerable to these kinds of schemes. The level of detail in these fakes is getting scary good, making it harder for even savvy users to spot the difference.
What Google is doing
So what’s actually being done about this? Google says they’re proactively removing apps that mimic legitimate AI services from Play, and Chrome has that AI-powered safe browsing enhanced mode. They’ve also got that full security advisory with all the details. But honestly, I think the most interesting part is Google’s “inoculation theory-inspired security game” they mention – basically training users to recognize scams before they get hit. That’s smart, because no amount of technical protection can completely replace user awareness.
The bigger picture
Now, stepping back from the immediate threats, this feels like part of a larger pattern. We’re seeing AI become a double-edged sword in cybersecurity – great for defense, but equally powerful for offense. The fact that Google’s own Threat Intelligence Group is tracking this so closely tells you how serious it’s becoming. And with 57% of adults already experiencing scams in just one year? That’s an astonishing number that should make everyone pause. The arms race between security teams and scammers just entered a new phase, and honestly, I’m not sure most people realize how much the game has changed.
