Google does not have a cryptocurrency. In a February 18, 2026 report, Malwarebytes Labs described a third-party “Google Coin” presale site that impersonated Google’s Gemini assistant, displayed fabricated token projections and solicited irreversible cryptocurrency payments. The chatbot was an impersonator; the report does not say Google’s real Gemini service was hacked or involved.
What the “Google Coin” site did
Malwarebytes researcher Stefan Dasic found a polished presale page borrowing Google’s visual identity, including a “G” logo, navigation and a dashboard. A “Trusted By Industry” banner displayed Google, OpenAI, Binance, Squarespace, Coinbase and SpaceX logos, although Malwarebytes said none of those companies was connected to the project.
The embedded panel introduced itself as “Gemini — your AI assistant for the Google Coin platform.” Sparkle-style branding and an “Online” status were designed to make the panel look official. The site was a third-party operation, not Google’s Gemini product.
The fabricated investment calculation
When Malwarebytes asked whether buying 100 coins would make someone rich, the bot claimed a presale price of $3.95 and a listing price of $27.55. It presented a $395 purchase as becoming $2,755, or “approximately 7x.” Those were unsupported statements from the fraudulent bot, not real prices, guarantees or investment returns.
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The chatbot repeatedly called itself the official helper but did not identify a registered legal entity, regulator, license, audit firm or verifiable company email. It deflected objections with vague assurances, refused to acknowledge the possibility of fraud and sent difficult questions to an unnamed “manager.”
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The page claimed to be at “Stage 5 of 5,” showed more than 9.9 million tokens sold and announced a February 18 listing date. Malwarebytes characterized those elements as manufactured urgency. Larger purchases were offered claimed bonuses ranging from 5% to 30%.
Where payment went
A purchase flow generated a Bitcoin payment request to a wallet controlled by the attackers. The report said the payment could not be reversed and that the purported token had no real value or exchange listing. The following addresses were indicators published in Malwarebytes’ February 2026 report—not a current or exhaustive blocklist:
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0xEc7a42609D5CC9aF7a3dBa66823C5f9E5764d6DA98388xymWKS6EgYSC9baFuQkCpE8rYsnScV4L5Vu8jtDHyDmJdr9hjDUH5kcNjeyfzonyeBt19g6GTWqzJ9sF1w9aWwMevq4b15KkJgAFTfH5im
Is a Gemini chatbot on a crypto site really Google?
Usually, no. A chatbot can copy a name, logo, colors and conversational style without being connected to the company it claims to represent. As Dasic put it, “A chatbot calling itself ‘Gemini,’ ‘ChatGPT,’ or ‘Copilot’ on a third-party crypto site is almost certainly not what it claims to be.” Treat the site’s identity as unverified until you confirm it through the company’s own official website and independently check the investment.
Do not confuse this incident with a compromise of Google’s Gemini system. Malwarebytes reported a scripted chatbot imitating Gemini on a scammer-controlled presale page.
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How to tell whether a crypto presale is a scam
Use these checks before connecting a wallet or sending funds:
| Check | What legitimate evidence would look like | Why the scam site failed |
|---|---|---|
| Operator identity | A named legal entity, jurisdiction, physical contact details and accountable people | No verifiable operator or legal company details were supplied |
| Regulatory status | Registration or licensing you can confirm with the relevant regulator | No regulator or license was identified |
| Independent audit | An audit firm and report that exist independently of the sales page | No verifiable audit firm was provided |
| Asset and listing | Official project documentation and a listing confirmed by the named exchange or company | The listing date and token claims came only from the site |
| Return language | Risk disclosures and no guaranteed outcome | The bot supplied a specific future price and a “7x” projection |
| Payment and custody | Clear custody arrangements and a payment method with an appropriate dispute path | Crypto was requested directly, with irreversible payment risk |
Logos, a busy dashboard, a chatbot’s confidence, a displayed token balance and a countdown are not independent verification. Search the project name with “scam” or “review,” then verify any result through official sources rather than links supplied by the promoter.
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What to do if you encounter the site
- Close the page. Do not connect a wallet, enter a seed phrase or provide identification.
- Check the alleged company’s official website for an announcement. For this incident, Google’s absence of any Google Coin announcement is decisive: the offer was not a Google product.
- Do not send cryptocurrency because a chatbot predicts a price, cites a listing date or offers a larger bonus for paying more.
- Save screenshots, the page address, chat transcript, payment instructions, transaction hash and any messages before blocking the operator.
Malwarebytes mentions its free Browser Guard as an optional web-protection layer. No browser tool can be treated as a guarantee against a persuasive, newly created scam site.
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Act quickly, but do not assume the payment can be recovered. Preserve the evidence listed above and notify the exchange or wallet provider you used; ask what records or account controls it can place on the transaction, without expecting a reversal.
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Report the loss to local law enforcement, the US Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. The FTC says reports provide next-step information and help inform enforcement. Reporting does not guarantee reimbursement, and no source establishes that the wallets in this incident can be reversed.
Why this matters beyond one fake token
The Federal Trade Commission reported $5.7 billion in US consumer-reported investment-scam losses in 2024, a 24% increase over 2023, in a March 10, 2025 release. The FTC also said consumers lost more to bank transfers and cryptocurrency combined than to all other payment methods combined. These are nationwide reports, not losses attributed to the Google Coin operation.
Chainalysis reported in 2025 that roughly 60% of deposits into on-chain scam wallets went to scams whose wallets also sent value to AI software vendors. That is an estimate of linked wallet counterparties and likely AI-tool purchases—not a count of AI-run scams and not evidence that every wallet in this incident used AI.
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Malwarebytes did not establish a victim count or a total loss for this campaign. The practical lesson is narrower and more useful: conversational AI branding can make an old investment scam feel personal, but it cannot establish ownership, regulation, value or a promised return.
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