A scam operation using AI-generated spam, known as AkiraBot, is flooding website comment sections and customer service chatbots to promote fraudulent SEO services, with a reported 80,000 successful spamming incidents across 420,000 targeted domains.
AkiraBot is a program designed to fill website comments sections and customer service chatbots with AI-generated spam messages, aiming to lure users into signing up for an SEO scheme priced at approximately $30 per month. The scheme promises to enhance the visibility of websites on search engines like Google, but it is entirely fraudulent.
A recent report by cybersecurity firm SentinelOne detailed the deployment of AkiraBot, its utilization of OpenAI-generated content, and its methods for evading CAPTCHA systems and network detection techniques. According to the report, the scammers behind AkiraBot operate under multiple names, frequently incorporating the terms “Akira” or “ServiceWrap” into their SEO company names.
The AkiraBot tool specifically targets websites built using third-party software such as Wix or Squarespace, as well as WordPress-based websites, by spamming their comments sections and automated chatbots with promises of achieving front-page visibility on various search engines. The messages crafted by AkiraBot are likely familiar to small business owners and operators of WordPress-based websites over the past 15 years.
SentinelOne’s findings highlight the extensive reach of AkiraBot, with the bot targeting 420,000 unique domains and successfully spamming 80,000 of them. The use of OpenAI-generated messages has enabled the scammers to produce convincing content, further complicating detection efforts.
