Claude Users Report Mysterious Loss of Premium Usage Limits

A startling issue has emerged involving users of the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot Claude, with reports that their premium tokens or overall usage limits are being stolen. Grant De Swart, a UK-based artificial intelligence consultant, recently noticed that the tokens in his Claude Max 20x account were being rapidly depleted despite not performing any tasks.

A subsequent investigation found that cybercriminals were hacking users’ browser sessions without their knowledge and stealing valuable tokens from their accounts.

Hacking Through Infostealer Malware

Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind Claude, has confirmed that the fraud is being carried out through “Infostealer” malware infecting users’ personal computers. The malicious program secretly infiltrates computers and steals passwords, session cookies and login information stored in browsers.

As a result, hackers can gain direct access to active Claude accounts through existing sessions without knowing the passwords or having to bypass two-factor authentication, and then exhaust the users’ usage limits.

Customer Outrage on Reddit and GitHub

Multiple users on social media platform Reddit and GitHub have reported similar experiences. Some complained that their entire usage allowance had been depleted within minutes while they were simply idle. In some cases, customers also reported that their accounts were automatically upgraded, resulting in charges being deducted from their bank cards.

Although Anthropic has identified the issue in some customers’ accounts, terminated the affected sessions and issued partial refunds, users remain deeply dissatisfied because the company has not provided specific details or an itemized breakdown of the usage.

Questions Over Security Measures

Anthropic has said that the malware infections were not caused by any vulnerability in the Claude app or website. Instead, the malware spread to users’ computers through other insecure sources on the internet.

However, because the system does not provide users with a transparent breakdown of exactly how their tokens are being consumed, they cannot easily determine where and how their usage is being spent. Frustrated by the lack of a quick and satisfactory resolution, many professional users are reportedly switching to other artificial intelligence platforms, such as Cursor, as alternatives to Claude.

//DBTech/BMT/OR//