Generative AI has rapidly transformed various aspects of everyday life, but an unfortunate consequence of its mainstream adoption is a sharp increase in phishing scams. According to a recent report from cybersecurity company SlashNext, phishing emails have surged by 1,265% since the introduction of ChatGPT.

In addition to the emergence of AI tools like WormGPT, Dark Bart, and FraudGPT for generating malware, which are proliferating on the dark web, cybercriminals are also discovering novel methods to compromise OpenAI’s leading AI chatbot.

“When ChatGPT was launched in February, we witnessed a significant uptick in phishing attacks, driven in part by the overall increase in cyberattacks due to its success,” revealed Patrick Harr, CEO of SlashNext, in an interview with Decrypt.

Phishing attacks are a form of cyberattack typically delivered through email, text messages, or social media messages, appearing to originate from a trustworthy source. These attacks may lead victims to malicious websites, deceiving them into making transactions from their cryptocurrency wallets, resulting in the loss of their funds.

According to SlashNext’s report, during the final quarter of 2022, there were 31,000 daily phishing attacks, marking a 967% rise in credential phishing. The report also states that 68% of all phishing attacks are text-based business email compromises (BEC), and 39% of mobile-based attacks involve SMS phishing (smishing).