# OpenAI — Operation “False Witness”: Fake recovery service impersonating authorities

- Company: OpenAI (openai.com)
- Announced: 2026-02-01
- Category: safety-policy-update
- Coverage: not counted
- Announcement: no
- Group: routine
- Source: https://openai.com/index/disrupting-malicious-uses-of-ai-false-witness
- Record: https://forck.live/items/11689-operation-false-witness-fake-recovery-service-impersonating-authorities
- Subject: GPT / ChatGPT / API
- Models affected: ChatGPT

OpenAI banned a cluster of ChatGPT accounts that very likely originated in Cambodia and used AI to pose as recovery services, law firms, and authorities in a scam targeting fraud victims. The scammers used ChatGPT to generate promotional content, impersonate attorneys and the FBI's IC3, and draft messages requesting advance fees and cryptocurrency payments. OpenAI stated that its policies prohibit using its tools for fraud and that it is collaborating with industry peers and authorities to disrupt such activity.

## Evidence

Verbatim from https://openai.com/index/disrupting-malicious-uses-of-ai-false-witness:

> OpenAI’s policies strictly prohibit using output from our tools for fraud or scams, and we are dedicated to collaborating with industry peers and authorities to understand how AI is influencing adversarial behavior and to actively disrupt scam activity abusing our services.

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Record: https://forck.live/items/11689-operation-false-witness-fake-recovery-service-impersonating-authorities
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