For a long time we were told that artificial intelligence would make our lives easier. It turns out it first makes fraudsters' lives easier. Google has filed a lawsuit against a Chinese criminal network called Outsider Enterprise, which sold phishing software "for beginners" - a tool with which anyone, without any technical knowledge, can steal money on a large scale.

The numbers are dizzying. The software offered over 290 ready-made templates that in minutes produced fake copies of real sites - telecom operators, banks, state institutions, and retailers. Victims received fake SMS messages and ads that led them to these sites, where they handed over passwords, two-factor authentication codes, and financial data - which the thieves read in real time.

The scale is measured in the millions. In just two weeks 2.5 million messages were sent to Android users, and in one month users reported 55,000 spam messages. By estimates, since July 2023 the scams have taken around $1.9 billion (1.65 billion euros), with stolen data from nearly 3.9 million payment cards and tens of thousands of cards from institutions in 95 countries.

The most uncomfortable detail for Google itself: the fraudsters also used its own tool Gemini to generate code and build the fake sites faster. The company building artificial intelligence is now suing because that same technology is turning against users. The lawsuit seeks damages and an injunction, accusing the perpetrators of extortion, fraud, and trademark abuse.

The point isn't one Chinese network - it'll change its address within a month. The point is that fraud tools have become so simple that you no longer need a hacker, you just need someone without shame. And the question that remains hangs over all of us: when technology makes crime as easy as ordering food through an app, who will protect us - the same companies that built the tools?