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Google's 'AI Overview' Pointed Him to a Customer Service Number. It Was a Scam


A real estate developer searched Google for a cruise ship company's customer service number, reports the Washington Post, calling the number in Google's AI Overview. "He chatted with a knowledgeable representative and provided his credit card details," the Post's reporter notes — but the next...

"And the Post's reporter found the same phone number "appearing to impersonate other cruise company hotlines and popping up in Google and ChatGPT" (including Disney and Carnival's Princess line): He'd encountered an apparent AI twist on a classic scam targeting travelers and others searching Google for customer help lines of airlines and other businesses... Here's how a scam like this typically works: Bad guys write on online review sites, message boards and other websites claiming that a number they control belongs to a company's customer service center. Reached for comment, a Google spokesman told the Post they'd "taken action" on several impostor numbers identified by the reporter.

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