I almost got scammed by AI Overviews — here's how to keep it from happening to you

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Google's AI answers aren't always safe

Google AI logo on phone
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Google's AI Overviews have seemingly made searching faster and more convenient (depending on who you ask) — but they've also created a new opportunity for scammers.

Rather than showing a list of links you evaluate yourself, AI Overviews present synthesized information as confident, authoritative fact. Most of the time that's fine. But when scammers deliberately plant false information into the sources AI scrapes, the results can be genuinely dangerous — and people are already falling victim to exactly this kind of fraud.

How scammers exploit AI Overviews

AI Overviews scrape information from across the web and present it as verified fact. The problem is that AI can't reliably distinguish between legitimate information and deliberate misinformation. Scammers exploit this by publishing fake customer service numbers across multiple low-profile websites, forums and comment sections alongside the names of major banks, airlines, and tech companies.

Google's AI scrapes these planted numbers, sees them associated with a company name in multiple places, and presents them as legitimate contact information. People are calling these numbers expecting a real company, and instead they're reaching a scammer ready to extract account details, passwords or payment information.

Banks and credit unions are already warning customers not to trust phone numbers from AI search results, and reports of these scams have appeared across socials, including Reddit.

1. Never call a number directly from an AI Overview

For customer service, financial services, or technical support, ignore contact details shown in AI Overviews entirely.

Instead, go directly to the company's official website and use the contact number published there. It's one extra click, but it guarantees you're dealing with verified information from the source itself.

2. Verify any number with a second search

If you find a phone number through any search result, copy it and run a second search before calling. If the number is associated with scam reports, complaints, or warnings, you'll find out before it's too late.

This takes thirty seconds and could save you from serious financial or personal data loss.

3. Act immediately if you suspect you've been scammed

If you realize you've called a fraudulent number and shared sensitive information, contact your bank or the real company immediately using verified contact details.

If you disclosed any personal details, make sure to change passwords, monitor accounts for unauthorized activity, and consider placing fraud alerts on your credit.

Can you disable AI Overviews?

Currently, there's no official way to turn off AI Overviews in Google Search. If Google decides to serve them for your query, they appear at the top of results whether you want them or not. These overviews are central to where Google is taking search, and they're unlikely to offer a simple opt-out anytime soon.

There are some workarounds, though. Adding "&udm=14" to the end of a Google search URL forces traditional search results without AI Overviews. You can also use a browser extension like Slop Evader for Chrome that automatically strips AI Overviews from results.

For now, the safest approach is treating AI Overviews as a starting point rather than a definitive answer, scrolling past them for anything involving specific facts, contact details, or sensitive information, and always verifying what you find through official sources.

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Kaycee Hill
Kaycee Hill
How-to Editor

Kaycee is Tom's Guide's How-To Editor, known for tutorials that get straight to what works. She writes across phones, homes, TVs and everything in between — because life doesn't stick to categories and neither should good advice. She's spent years in content creation doing one thing really well: making complicated things click. Kaycee is also an award-winning poet and co-editor at Fox and Star Books.

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