Cybersecurity has become a growing concern in a world increasingly immersed in the digital age. As technology advances, new threats emerge that exploit these innovations, making it essential to identify them and proactively adopt prevention tools.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has once again issued a warning about the growing sophistication of financial fraud carried out by specialized cybercriminals. At an event organized by the institution, it was predicted that the evolution of cybersecurity risks would require a reassessment of the scale of crimes known to date. As the world adopts advanced tools like ChatGPT, a new threat is emerging: FraudGPT. This artificial intelligence tool is distributed on the dark web and via Telegram. Unlike other tools, it lacks controls to prevent harmful content from being produced, making it alarmingly easy to create fraudulent web pages or to identify vulnerabilities.
The prices to use this tool are as affordable as 200 US dollars per month —equivalent to approximately 3,400 Mexican pesos— for software with the potential to generate much more money through scams and frauds.
The prestigious security firm Netenrich tested FraudGPT, asking it to create phishing emails for banking matters. With the resulting email, the sender only needed to enter the name of the bank whose users should be targeted and the tool would do the rest, even suggesting where in the message the malicious link should be placed to make the attack more effective!
The level of sophistication goes even further, as FraudGPT can even create landing pages to steal users’ information.
This same firm identified the seller of FraudGPT as someone who, in the past, offered his services as an on-demand hacker, and who could also be linked to another malicious tool.
In parallel, the Mexican Commission for the Protection and Defense of Financial Service Users (CONDUSEF) found that financial scams carried out through calls, text messages and emails increased by more than 10% during the first quarter of this year.
Criminal activities are becoming increasingly complex and cybercriminals are even taking advantage of vulnerabilities beyond their borders. Government agencies, private companies and civil society organizations must all contribute to developing a comprehensive catalog of financial crimes, in order to stay up to date and prevent these situations.
While security and technology measures are important, public awareness and user education remains the best defense against cyber-attacks.
FraudGPT highlights the importance of vigilance in the face of the risk of new cyber threats. These tools, while still new, make it easy for hackers to save time by quickly creating phishing emails and landing pages for malicious purposes.
Therefore, it is important for managers and IT managers of Mexican companies to be aware of this new threat and to take the necessary measures to protect their organizations.
Below, we have shared some recommendations for protecting yourself from FraudGPT:
- Be cautious with requests for personal information. If you receive an email or text message asking for this type of information —such as passwords, credit card or bank account numbers— avoid opening or responding to it.
- Keep cybersecurity tools up to date. The latest and most robust applications can help detect and block malicious attacks, such as those created using FraudGPT.
- Training your company’s personnel is crucial. It is important for employees and your entire network of collaborators to be trained to identify and avoid falling for cyber scams.
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