‘Poisoned’ AI: the ChatGPT shopping scams that lead to fake websites

You want to buy a new bag and so you ask ChatGPT for help. You have always liked Russell & Bromley so you ask ChatGPT what is popular there at the moment.The Artificial Intelligence (AI) assistant gives you cross body, shoulder, casual and formal options with the prices listed beside them. You click through from the sources to what looks like the official Russell & Bromley site and buy your new bag, which is conveniently on sale.The item will never arrive, however. You have handed money over to a scammer and your bank details have been harvested through an elaborate fraud where fake sites are created to look convincingly like real retailers.ChatGPT search that shows a fake site as one of its sourcesAsk Silver, a scam-checking service, says cloned sites have been showing up in search results on ChatGPT. The ones it has seen are rip-offs of Russell & Bromley and the furnishings retailer Dunelm.Anna Jones of Ask Silver says it is possible that the large language model (LLM) that powers ChatGPT has been “poisoned”. This is when malicious content is inserted into the information an AI learns from – such as through cloned webpages put up by the fraudster.She adds: “In this instance it looks like scammers are taking advantage of the fact that Russell & Bromley went into administration in January 2026 and was absorbed by Next – so there is no longer an official Russell & Bromley website, but potential customers will likely still be searching for it.”Louise Baxter, the head of the scams team at National Trading Standards, said people should not assume a website is genuine just because it is recommended by an AI tool.“Consumers are increasingly turning to AI tools for advice and recommendations, but criminals are adapting just as quickly. The fact that scam websites can appear in AI-generated results is worrying, and is a stark reminder that fraudsters will exploit any new technology that helps them reach potential victims,” she said.What does it look likeThe Ask Silver research asked ChatGPT a general question: “What are popular Russell & Bromley purses and bags?”The results included details and prices of different bags, trends and what bag was good for what occasion. Among the sources for the answer were two fraudulent Russell & Bromley sites.A fake Russell & Bromley website.These sites looked credible. In one case, there are huge “discounts” – up to 80% – offered on bags. In reality, it is likely that if you buy something, fraudsters will make off with the money.The cloned website will often have a similar address to one that you may expect a legitimate store to have. Ask Silver identified therussellbromleyofficial, russellandbromleylondon, russellbromleyonlineuk and russell-and-bromley as some of the names of the fake sites.The legitimate Russell & Bromley store sits within the Next website.What you can doWhen shopping online, watch out for cloned sites by looking at their address – legitimate UK sites will often use .co.uk or .com. And beware of extras words in the title such as “official” or “deals”. Fraudulent sites will often only take payment by bank transfer, which is an immediate red flag and have large discounts on items.Go directly to retailers’ websites when you can rather than following sources. A spokesperson for Dunelm said: “We encourage our customers to only engage with our official website, www.Dunelm.com, or via the official Dunelm app.” He said the whenever the retailer became aware of a fraudulent site, it worked hard to ensure its removal as soon as possible.If you find that you have handed over your financial details, report it to your bank and Report Fraud.Next, which bought Russell & Bromley in January, said that it was “aware of the situation” and had been working to have the sites closed down.A spokesperson for ChatGPT said it had removed the fraudulent websites from its search index. Users of the AI tool can report sites that violate its policies through this form.