Microsoft says it has taken down ‘AI chatbot built for cybercrime’ that hacked 12,000-plus emails across over 10,000 organisations globally

Microsoft has said that it has thwarted an effort to shut down a subscription-based scam platform that relied on an AI chatbot to break into more than 12,000 Microsoft accounts over the course of a few months. The platform, called EvilTokens, first surfaced on a Telegram channel back in February, charging users an initial fee of $1,500 followed by a recurring monthly charge of $500. EvilTokens essentially offered a one-stop service that streamlined nearly every step needed to compromise email accounts at scale. According to the company, once inside, the platform helped its customers sift through victims’ inboxes, identify the most targets and even draft follow-up emails designed to trick employees into transferring funds into accounts controlled by the attackers.