Google Sues to Ground "Outsider Enterprise" Phishing Ring That Allegedly Weaponized Gemini AI 🪤

Google filed a lawsuit Friday against an alleged Chinese cybercrime network called Outsider Enterprise, accusing the group of using the company's Gemini AI to automate large-scale phishing text-message campaigns that targeted hundreds of thousands of U.S. victims with fraudulent websites designed to steal financial credentials. According to court documents, the defendants used Gemini AI to generate code and templates for fake sites that mimicked legitimate telecom portals, and the phishing infrastructure specifically targeted financial accounts including cryptocurrency wallets and exchange credentials.

The FBI said the operation deployed more than 8,000 phishing websites across dozens of countries, and Google received approximately 55,000 reports of suspicious messages on Google Messages in the two-week period ending June 1, many allegedly connected to Outsider Enterprise. Court filings also state the network stole an estimated 3.87 million credit card numbers, contributing to roughly $1.9 billion in losses since July 2023. Google announced the action on June 12, 2026 via its News from Google account, writing: "Today, we filed a lawsuit to permanently dismantle a group of organized cybercriminals accused of using AI tools — including Gemini — to scam Americans via fake text campaigns."

The lawsuit lands as AI-enabled financial fraud accelerates across the United States. The FBI received 1,008,597 total internet crime complaints in 2025, with crypto-related complaints accounting for 181,565 reports and $11 billion in losses—the highest of any category tracked by the bureau. For the first time in the Internet Crime Complaint Center's nearly 25-year history, the agency dedicated a section to artificial intelligence scams, which generated 22,364 complaints and cost Americans nearly $893 million.

The bureau's Operation Level Up, launched in 2024, has notified over 8,000 cryptocurrency fraud victims and prevented more than $500 million in potential losses, according to the FBI. The Google suit targets core software developers within the cybercrime operation and seeks to permanently dismantle the network, the company said. No trial date has been announced.