NEWS / Gmail users targeted with sophisticated AI scam involving death certificate

A sophisticated artificial intelligence driven scam is targeting Gmail users. Some users have reported receiving a message stating that a death certificate had been filed in their name and that they need to confirm that they are in fact alive. Clicking the “Yes, it’s me” button then causes the victim to lose access to their Gmail account. The scam was reported by Malwarebytes Lab.

Windows expert Sam Mitrovic has reported a similar scam which involves receiving a message to approve or deny an Gmail account recovery request and an AI-generated voice call, supposedly from Google. Both scams ultimately boil down to a phishing attempt in which the account recovery masks the scammers’ attempt to change their victims e-mail password to ultimately take control of the account.

Malwarebytes Lab recommends double checking the domain name of the sender’s e-mail. In many cases, this domain name may be almost identical to the official name, so it is crucial to know the exact spelling of the official domain. Also, a user can check if a security alert actually came from Google by going to their Google account, selecting the Security tab, and checking for any recent messages there.