Google AI Overview: To make internet search easier, Google started the AI Overviews feature in 2024. Its purpose was that users could get a short answer generated by AI at the top instead of a long website list. Although this facility is easy to read and provides quick information, questions have been raised in the past regarding its accuracy.
Convenience as well as risk
AI Overviews shows a brief summary at the top of search results. The problem is that sometimes this information is not completely verified. The problem of hallucination i.e. giving wrong or fabricated information has already existed in AI systems.
Now according to a new report, cyber criminals are trying to take advantage of this feature. Their goal is to make people trust the phone numbers shown in AI Overviews and become victims of fraud.
How might this new scam work?
For the past many years, fraudsters have been trying to put fake customer care numbers in Google search. When a person searches the contact number of a company, a fake number may appear in place of the real number.
This risk has increased further after the arrival of AI Overviews. If a user searches the helpline number of a company, then the number shown in the AI summary may not be of the real company but of a fraudster. After this, on calling, the person can pretend to be a representative of the company and demand bank details, OTP or payment.
The report claims that such fake numbers are being posted on smaller and less famous websites where the names of big companies are used. AI systems can take information from these websites and create summaries that make the false numbers appear like facts.
Why does people’s sensitivity increase?
Earlier, when users viewed different website links, they had the opportunity to make comparisons. But in AI Overviews the information is shown directly as conclusions. Due to this, many people consider it as final and correct, which increases the risk of fraud.
What to do for protection?
The most important thing is not to blindly accept every information shown by AI as correct. To know the official number of any company, go directly to its official website or confirm from different sources.
The company says that additional security measures have been added to AI Overviews to detect fraud. Still, users are being advised to double-check any contact number to check its authenticity and exercise caution.
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