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Incident 1187: Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT Reportedly Cited Fraudulent Cruise Hotline, Allegedly Enabling Successful Scam

Description: Google's AI Overviews allegedly surfaced a fraudulent customer service number for Royal Caribbean. Consumer Alex Rivlin reportedly called the number, spoke with an impostor, and provided his credit card, later incurring $768 in fraudulent charges. The same number reportedly appeared in ChatGPT results and was linked to Disney and Princess cruises, purportedly showing how scammers are manipulating AI outputs to amplify longstanding hotline scams.

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Alleged: Google and OpenAI developed an AI system deployed by Unknown scammers , Unknown fraudsters , Unknown scammers impersonating Royal Caribbean , Unknown scammers impersonating Disney Cruise Line and Unknown scammers impersonating Princess Cruises, which harmed Alex Rivlin , Royal Caribbean , Royal Caribbean customers , Disney Cruise Line , Disney Cruise Line customers , Princess Cruises , Princess Cruises customers and General public.
Alleged implicated AI systems: Google AI overview and ChatGPT

Incident Stats

Incident ID
1187
Report Count
1
Incident Date
2025-08-15
Editors
Daniel Atherton

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

+1
Google’s AI pointed him to a customer service number. It was a scam.
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Google’s AI pointed him to a customer service number. It was a scam.

Google’s AI pointed him to a customer service number. It was a scam.

washingtonpost.com

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Google’s AI pointed him to a customer service number. It was a scam.
washingtonpost.com · 2025

Alex Rivlin was tackling a last-minute task for his European vacation. That's how he got snagged in an artificial intelligence-enabled scam.

Rivlin, who runs a real estate company in Las Vegas, needed to book a shuttle to catch a cruise shi…

Variants

A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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