Never heard of Malwarebytes? It’s one of the most prominent pieces of software for detecting and removing malware from major desktop and mobile operating systems. Founded 20 years ago, it’s a trusted source for cleaning up infected devices and warning users away from dangers yet to take root in their phones and computers.
Now, as part of ChatGPT’s on-again–off-again relationship with wedging other sites’ functionalities into ChatGPT’s window as apps, you can ask Malwarebytes if that text, email, DM, phone number, or link you just got is a likely scam or not, directly from your ChatGPT chat window.
how ChatGPT’s Scam Scanner works
You’ve got a couple of ways to ask Malwarebytes to check out a suspicious message. If you go into ChatGPT’s settings and navigate to Apps, you’ll now find Malwarebytes as an option. Hit Connect.
From now on, you’ll just have to type @malwarebytes in your ChatGPT window when you drop in a link or copy/paste a message that you want it to review. The other way is to simply type, “Malwarebytes, is this a scam?” and drop in what you want it to look at.
All the time, I’m getting strange texts and phone calls from numbers I don’t know. But scammers have gotten more convincing lately. You can drop the phone number or link into ChatGPT and call upon Malwarebytes to tell you whether it’s legit or not by comparing phone numbers to databases of known spam or scam databases and domains to identify whether they’re oddly new or have been implicated in other phishing attacks.
Or you can copy/paste the text, email, or DM into ChatGPT, and it’ll tell you “A clear, point-by-point breakdown of phishing or any known red flags, an explanation of why something looks risky, (and) practical next steps to help you stay safe,” as Malwarebytes puts it. That includes
You can check out the full details of how Malwarebytes uses its connection to a range of databases and the wider internet to judge whether you’re looking at a scam or just a very skillfully (or awkwardly) written message.
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