Today I Googled "close my Bank of America account" to find out how to accomplish that task. The very first thing on the page was a Google AI Overview with a phone number to call. I called it. Whoops for trusting Google AI's judgment. The number shown was not a real BOA number.
The person who answered impersonated a Bank of America representative. Here's how the scam played out:
* They asked if I was on iPhone or Android (I said Android)
* They had me download an app called **HelpDesk Host** and start a screen sharing session to verify some details
* They asked me to open my Bank of America app, which I was already logged into
* Through the screen share they could see my full name, address, date of birth, account names, and the other financial apps on my home screen
* They then tried to get me to go through a "confirm your information" dialogue inside the app
* Finally they instructed me to go to the Play Store and download something called like **Gemini Finance App** - that's when I ended the session
I caught it before any money moved or credentials were entered. I went to my local branch office and took care of the account closing there that I originally needed to do. The folks there also did not recognize the phone number.
Just for fun (?) I tried my same query/search on Claude and ChatGPT and their results showed a real BOA number (I verified on their website).
Tricky here because there wasn't any sketchy website, no pop-up, no email link. Just a Google search. And - it was me initiating the phone call.
It appears that in its attempt to be "grounded", Google AI was citing/referencing a real live webpage that had this number posted. The page was one on "onecause.com" which appears to be a legitimate site, but a fraudster pasted a bunch of data on that page guiding people to this number with any Bank of America accounts, which the Google AI picked up as somehow an authoritative/trusted data source :(
Be more careful than I was! Always go directly to the official website to find contact numbers. Don't trust AI Overviews for anything involving your finances.