--- title: "Scammers Are Using ChatGPT to Write Emails That Aren’t Riddled With Typos" description: "Don't expect scam emails to be as obvious as a foreign prince strapped for cash writing with terrible grammar. AI fixes that problem easily." date: "2023-04-01" modified: "2023-04-01" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scammers-using-chatgpt-phishing-emails" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "chatbots" - "chatgpt" - "large language models" - "the digest" --- # Scammers Are Using ChatGPT to Write Emails That Aren’t Riddled With Typos ![Don't expect scam emails to be as obvious as a foreign prince strapped for cash writing with terrible grammar. AI fixes that problem easily.]() *Faceless hackers and malware hackers use laptops with dangerous digital code on binary code background. \Image: Getty Images\* ## Keep an Eye Out You might want to be more vigilant about checking for spam and phishing emails, because those comically bad grammatical errors that once gave the game away? They're going to be a thing of the past, thanks to AI. Case in point: Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, has issued a warning about the potential abuse of [ChatGPT]() and other large language model AIs by cybercriminals and scammers. "As the capabilities of LLMs such as ChatGPT are actively being improved, the potential exploitation of these types of AI systems by criminals provide a grim outlook," Europol said, [as quoted by Reuters](), noting that its "ability to draft highly realistic text makes it a useful tool for phishing purposes." ## Artificial Authority And the experts are in agreement. "The idea that you can rely on looking for bad grammar or spelling in order to spot a phishing attack is no longer the case," Corey Thomas, CEO of US cybersecurity firm Rapid7, [told *The Guardian*](). According to the newspaper, data from Darktrace, one of the UK's most prominent cybersecurity firms, seems to indicate that more and more phishing emails are being written by chatbots. That's not good, as these LLMs tend to synthesize convincing-sounding prose [in an authoritative style]() — a perfect fit for the corporate and official emails they're trying to imitate. Specifically, Darktrace's data shows that the apparent volume of scam emails has dropped overall. Meanwhile, of those that they've detected, the linguistic complexity has gone up dramatically. But don't be fooled into thinking the drop in numbers means the scammers have relented. In reality, it likely suggests that a significant number of them are using LLMs like ChatGPT to compose scam emails that are so complex that they're bypassing detection. ## Nothing Personal Those findings might be just the tip of the spear. According to Darktrace CEO Max Heinemeyer, AIs will also make it easier to perpetrate a type of socially engineered scam called "spear-phishing" that's personalized to target a specific person. Executing these typically requires some degree of planning and research to gather details about a target to make the scam more convincing. Until now, the extra effort involved got in the way of spear phishing becoming too ubiquitous. But an AI could potentially automate spear phishing almost entirely. "I can just crawl your social media and put it to GPT, and it creates a super-believable tailored email," Heinemeyer told *The Guardian*. "Even if I'm not super knowledgeable of the English language, I can craft something that's indistinguishable from human." **More on AI:** *[BuzzFeed Is Quietly Publishing Whole AI-Generated Articles, Not Just Quizzes]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()