Google LLC launched a lawsuit today against fraudsters the company says is using the buzz around generative artificial intelligence to lure people into clicking on fake ads for its Bard chatbot.

Google said the scammers have been able to “exploit public enthusiasm for generative AI” by posting ads on social media that appear to be a download for Bard, despite Bard being web-based and free. When the victims hit the download, instead of AI that offers them advice, they get malware that steals their social media credentials.

The lawsuit, which was filed in California, is said to be the first of its kind regarding a company trying to protect its flagship AI product against fraudsters. Google says the scammers have been working in Vietnam and India. Their social media platform of choice has so far been Facebook. “Since April, we have filed roughly 300 takedowns related to this group of bad actors,” said Google.

The profiles appear to be genuine Google Bard ads, often appearing with the words “AIGoogle Bard FB,” “Google AI,” “AIGoogleBard,” “AIGoogle,” “AiGoogle” and “AIGoogle.Plus.” One of the problems for Google is that the company does actually run Bard ads on Facebook, making life confusing for potential victims of the scam, especially when they see a U.S. domain for the ad they’ve clicked on.

“We are seeking an order to stop the scammers from setting up domains like these and allow us to have them disabled with U.S. domain registrars,” said Google. “If this is successful, it will serve as a deterrent and provide a clear mechanism for preventing similar scams in the future.”

In a separate lawsuit Google filed today, the company says “bad actors” have abused the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA. Although the law is there is protect businesses and deter copyright infringement, Google says these bad actors have submitted “thousands of bogus copyright claims against their competitors,” leading to the loss of millions of dollars and thousands of hours of lost employee time.

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