The popularity of OpenAI's ChatGPT is putting users who want to try out AI chatbots on their smartphones at risk of losing their hard-earned cash.

Fake ChatGPT apps have spread malware in the past, but a new report from cybersecurity firm Sophos The report reveals.

During the investigation, the company's security researchers examined five ChatGPT apps in the App Store and Google Play store. While these apps are not malicious, they are in fact fraudulent because, according to Sophos, they "display ads until the user signs up for a subscription."

Most of these types of apps can be installed for free, but according to Sophos, users are more likely to sign up for a subscription because the free version "has few features and constantly displays ads. These subscriptions can be very expensive, with developers charging anywhere from $10 per month to $70 per year.

For example, an iOS version of Chat GBT called "Ask AI Assistant" charges $6 per week or $312 per year after a 3-day free trial. In March of this year alone, the app brought in $10,000 for its developer. However, another freeware-like app called Genie brought in $1 million in the past month, according to SensorTower data.

In fact, Sophos discovered freeware on the Play Store for the first time in 2019. One of the interesting things about all of these types of apps is that they are designed to "stay on the edge of what Google and Apple allow in terms of services."

Malicious apps often work in a similar fashion, but unlike freeware apps, they can infect the best Android phones with dangerous malware. However, beware of freeware, as this type of app can cause you to lose a lot of money if you are not careful.

The creators of these apps not only overcharge for features that are otherwise available for free, but also use social engineering and heavy-handed tactics to trick users into signing up for recurring subscriptions. But even then, many of these apps are often poorly written, and upgrading to a paid version makes little difference.

Another way freeware developers get their apps installed on smartphones is to drive up their ratings in app stores.

Below is a complete list of freeware posing as legitimate chatbot and ChatGPT apps in the App Store and Play Store. You don't necessarily need to remove them, but it is better to do so unless you are willing to pay a hefty subscription for a feature you can access for free.

Sophos has reported all of these apps to both Apple and Google, and many have been removed from their respective app stores. However, if you have any of these apps installed on your smartphone, you will need to uninstall the apps and remove them manually.

Trying out the latest software, especially when it is as popular as ChatGPT, is very easy for app developers to trick users into signing up for subscriptions in order to gain access.

However, the only way to get quick and guaranteed access to ChatGPT is to sign up for OpenAI's ChatGPT Plus for $20 per month.

Similarly, you can also use Bing Chat to access chatbots, as Microsoft has partnered with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to its search engine. Bing Chat uses GPT-4 and searches the Internet by default and therefore has access to the most up-to-date data. ChatGPT, on the other hand, stopped training in 2021 and runs on GPT-3.5.

At this time, however, OpenAI has not yet released an official ChatGPT app for mobile use. But when it is released, we will certainly post all the information here, so stay tuned. Until then, open a new browser window on your smartphone and go to "chat.openai. Free mobile access to ChatGPT from ".com