Google Sues Suspected Chinese Crypto App Rackets: Report
Google's parent company, Alphabet, has sued two people in China for using the company's platform to garner more than 100,000 downloads.
Alphabet claims that fraudsters have used its platforms, Google Play and YouTube, to upload and promote fraudulent crypto apps.
The online giant alleges that the defendants committed fraud after committing hundreds of wire fraud incidents. The lawsuit was filed Thursday, April 4, in federal court in New York, April 4 Bloomberg reports.
The scam apps are designed to look like real digital asset investments to convince users to deposit their money, which users will never be able to withdraw.
Even though Google is constantly removing fraudulent apps, many bypass its fraud detection system. The two scammers first started uploading racketeering apps in 2019.
The lawsuit is an important step to protect users of the platform, Google General Counsel Halima Delaine Prado wrote:
“This litigation is an important step in holding these bad actors accountable and sending a clear message that we will aggressively pursue those who seek to take advantage of our users.”
Related: Hacked funds in 2024 up 15.4% over same period in 2023 – Immunefi
Cryptocurrency rose 50% in March.
In March, nearly $71 million was lost to phishing scams from 77,529 victims across all chains, a 50% increase from February, according to an April 2 X post by Scam Sniffer.
A total of $173 million worth of digital assets were lost to phishing scams in the first quarter of 2024, with 90% of the stolen assets being ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum network.
Phishing scams are social engineering scams where attackers convince victims to share sensitive information or install malicious software on their own accord.
Hacking and exploitation have been major concerns in the crypto industry, especially decentralized financial applications. In the year According to a December 28 report by Immunefi, $1.8 billion will be lost to crypto hackers and fraudsters in 2023, of which 17% can be attributed to the North Korean Lazar group.
Related: Crypto.com Expands in South Korea Despite Increasing Regulatory Scrutiny
