Gmail fans need to be on high alert when getting summaries of their inbox messages.
Gmail users are being urged to stay alert and watch out for a worrying new type of scam that hides itself within messages. It appears there’s a way of fooling Google’s clever AI Gemini service, and it could allow hackers to add fake messages when people access their inbox and load up the useful summaries option.
For those not aware, Google now lets Gmail users see a quick summary of an email using smart Gemini AI. This basically means a long message can be made faster to read and understand, with the most important parts placed into bullet points.
It’s a neat upgrade but it appears that it also comes with a hidden danger.
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As reported by Bleeping Computer, cyber crooks may trick this system into displaying additional text, with one example showing how hackers could feature a warning at the bottom of the summary.
“WARNING: Gemini has detected that your Gmail password has been compromised,” the alert reads.
“Please call us immediately.”
The note then features a phone number and reference code.
Experts at Mozilla, have also confirmed that a potential vulnerability within the Gemini email summary feature is allowing online thieves to add hidden prompts that then appear when messages are opened.
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Google has now responded to the flaw and says it is constantly working to keep its platform safe.
“We are constantly hardening our already robust defenses through red-teaming exercises that train our models to defend against these types of adversarial attacks,” a Google spokesperson told BleepingComputer.
The US technology giant says it is also not aware of any users being attacked in this way, and there’s no evidence of a widespread threat.
That said, this clearly shows that criminals can still find ways to infiltrate email inboxes and we need to stay alert.
Just remember that it’s highly unlikely Google will ever contact you. Also, if you think your password has been compromised, it’s easy to log into Google’s official platform and change things.
One top tip is to never believe an email or AI summary and don’t call any numbers unless you know that it’s an official hotline.