AI chatbot fraud: the ‘gift card’ subcription that may cost you dear

David Duggan subscribed to the Claude AI tool, which impressed him with its medical and organizational capabilities, leading him to believe $20 monthly payments were justified.
Duggan discovered unauthorized $200 charges for gift cards to the AI tool on his credit card, totaling $400, with a third pending but uncompleted due to his intervention.
Upon contacting Anthropic, the company behind Claude, Duggan’s account was suspended, but no clear explanation was provided for the unauthorized transactions.
Duggan found several other users had experienced similar fraudulent charges on online forums, where users detailed receiving unauthorized payments and suspicious vouchers.
Anthropic is implementing new measures to prevent fraudulent purchases and commits to canceling subscriptions and issuing refunds when it identifies scam activity.
Duggan changed his credit card details to prevent further unauthorized transactions and is collaborating with his bank to recover his funds.
For users encountering unauthorized charges, Anthropic advises contacting their support, canceling affected cards, changing login details, and filing a chargeback claim with the bank or credit card provider.