Stay safe › Scams
Fake AI apps and chatbot clones
Look-alike "ChatGPT" or "AI photo" apps that charge big subscriptions, steal data or carry malware.
How it works
You search the app store for a popular AI chatbot or photo tool and install the first result. It’s a copy: it does little without paying, and the “free trial” quietly becomes an expensive subscription. Other fakes, shared as links or APK files, carry malware. Apps that claim to “remove clothes” from photos are used for harassment and blackmail.
A real report
In 2023 security company Sophos found ChatGPT copycat apps on both the Google Play and Apple app stores charging subscriptions, with one iOS app charging about $6 a week, roughly $312 a year, after a three-day trial. It called them “fleeceware”. See our AI tools directory for the official links to popular tools.
If it has already happened
- Cancel the subscription in your phone's app store settings (Play Store or App Store > Subscriptions), not just by deleting the app.
- Check your UPI AutoPay mandates in your UPI app and cancel any you don't recognise.
- Uninstall the app and change any password you typed into it.
Protect yourself
- Download AI apps from the developer's official website or verified store page. Check the developer name.
- Read the subscription price and renewal terms before starting any free trial.
- Don't upload photos of other people, or private documents, to apps you don't trust.
Say it simply
Ask a parent before downloading any AI app. Many are for 13+ or 18+.
Check the family phones' subscriptions once a month. Free trials often renew silently.
Got an app in mind? Check it in ten quick questions.Is this app safe? →
Where to report
- The app or platformReport and block the account on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube or wherever it happened, so it can be taken down.Report in the app
- National Cyber Crime Reporting PortalFile a complaint about any cyber fraud, harassment, sextortion or morphed images.cybercrime.gov.in
- Cybercrime helpline 1930Money has been taken or a payment was tricked out of you. Call at once: the sooner, the better the chance of freezing it.Call 1930
Learn more
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