What makes this scam particularly insidious is that ChatGPT itself is available for free. In contrast, the fake apps, often poorly developed and inadequately implemented, frequently fail to function as intended, regardless of whether the user has paid for the premium version or not.
According to Sophos researchers, the scammers’ strategy revolves around getting people to subscribe to the service and then either forget they have subscribed or believe that uninstalling the app will automatically cancel the subscription. To add to the deception, these fraudulent apps fabricate reviews and comments and inflate download numbers to appear more legitimate.
