The FBI, working with Google and Black Lotus Labs, disrupted a large phishing operation known as Outsider Enterprise that ran AI assisted text campaigns and distributed phishing kits.
The group operated thousands of fake sites and impersonated trusted brands, sending SMS messages through AT&T, T Mobile, and Verizon, and has been active since at least 2023.
Google linked the infrastructure to about 9,000 fake websites and more than a million fraudulent URLs, as reported by Google, while court documents and the FBI described the network deploying more than 8,000 phishing websites across dozens of countries.
During the technical takedown the FBI seized multiple administration servers, a Shopify storefront, an account used to test the service, and around 100,000 USDT from Outsider payment wallets, and redirected thousands of registered U.S. domains to an FBI splash page.
The agency also took control of a Telegram bot tied to Outsider Enterprise, which contained information on customers of the phishing service, and said the action formed part of Operation Riptide targeting cybercrime infrastructure.
Impact Legal Action And Industry Response
Google filed a civil lawsuit in New York federal court alleging Outsider Enterprise used Gemini AI to generate code and templates for fake websites, and that defendants sent 2.5 million scam messages, as reported by Google.
Court documents and the FBI estimate the operation stole roughly 3.87 million credit card numbers, and authorities say losses total about 1.9 billion dollars since mid 2023, as reported by the sources.
Google said Android users flagged 55,000 suspicious messages in a two week span and that the company has AI powered defenses that block more than 10 billion malicious messages each month, as reported by Google.
The company is pursuing aggressive legal action, coordinating with AT&T, T Mobile, and Verizon to block fraudulent messages, and is advocating for seven bipartisan anti scam bills including the Stop SCAMS Act, as reported by Google.
The broader context includes rising AI related fraud complaints, with the FBI receiving more than one million internet crime complaints in 2025, and specific figures for crypto and AI scams reported by the bureau, as reported by the sources.
