We found several fake ChatGPT apps designed for iPhones and Android devices. Most of these apps are purportedly built on GPT-3, an autoregressive language model created by OpenAI, which is publicly available. OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public on November 30, 2022. By December 4, it already had over one million users. Currently, the service is only available on the web. While ChatGPT is free at the moment, OpenAI is reportedly working on a premium version of the service. Most of the fake ChatGPT apps we found charge users a monthly subscription or one-time payment for ad-free service. However, the cost may not raise the alarm or deter potential victims since other OpenAI services, such as its image generator bot DALL-2, have a paid plan.
Fake ChatGPT Apps Have Thousands of Downloads
Several fake ChatGPT apps we found on the Play Store have thousands of downloads. While Google and Apple have taken down some fake ChatGPT apps in recent weeks, there are many more on their respective stores. One of these sham ChatGPT apps, named “ChatGPT,” which appears to have been taken down from the Play Store, had over 100k downloads and a one-star rating. Interestingly, the app bore the OpenAI logo. We found a different app on the App Store with the same logo by another publisher. Another fake ChatGPT app, named “ChatGPT Chat GPT AI With GPT-3,” was downloaded thousands of times on both the Play Store and the App Store before it was taken down. This app was among the top productivity apps on the App Store recently. A quick search turned up several similarly named apps still on the App Store, including one called “ChatGPT Chat GPT AI Open GPT-3,” which claimed to have over a million users but had no reviews. Many of these fake ChatGPT apps were free but offer a premium tier with monthly and annual plans. One dubious ChatGPT app on the App Store, named ChatGPT Pro, offered users a three-day free trial, after which users could opt for one of three payment plans. This app also appears to have been taken down.
Cybercriminals are Increasingly Using ChatGPT
The world continues to experiment with ChatGPT and speculate about what it means for the future of work. The tool can, at the least, greatly assist various professionals. Unfortunately, the same holds for cybercriminals. Apart from using it to create convincing phishing emails and write code for adware and other malware disguised as legitimate apps, threat actors can use ChatGPT for other nefarious activities. Earlier this month, cybersecurity experts at Check Point warned that cybercriminals are using the bot to create hacking tools and new dark web marketplaces. On Tuesday, a paper published by OpenAI researchers as well as researchers from Georgetown University and Stanford Internet Observatory warned that AI-powered language models, like ChatGPT, will increasingly be used by malicious actors. “Our bottom-line judgement is that language models will be useful for propagandists and will likely transform online influence operations. Even if the most advanced models are kept private or controlled through application programming interface (API) access, propagandists will likely gravitate towards open-source alternatives and nation states may invest in the technology themselves,” the researchers said in a blog post. We strongly advise against downloading unknown apps. Always check the credibility of the publisher of an app before you hit the download button. Our Android malware removal guide contains useful information on how to identify and remove malicious apps from your device. The tips in the article also apply to iPhones.
