Google Files Lawsuit Against Crypto Spammers for Fake Apps on Android Store
Google has filed a lawsuit against a group of crypto spammers who have allegedly defrauded more than 100,000 people worldwide. This marks the first time the search engine giant has taken action against crypto scammers.
According to Google, it aims to set a legal precedent and use litigation to protect its users from falling victim to scam artists.
Google Takes Legal Action Against Crypto Spammers for Fraudulent Android Apps
The 34-page long lawsuit, filed on Thursday, accuses the group of defrauding individuals across the globe by uploading fraudulent investment and crypto exchange apps to Google Play. It alleges that the scammers used nefarious methods to upload their fraudulent apps to Google Play, such as misrepresentation of identity and the nature of the application being uploaded.
Google has filed the lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law and for breach of contract. The group had created and published at least 87 fraudulent apps to dupe users.
Halimah DeLaine Prado, general counsel at Google, said, “This is a unique opportunity for us to use our resources to combat bad actors who were running an extensive crypto scheme to defraud some of our users. In 2023 alone, we saw over a billion dollars within the U.S. of cryptocurrency fraud and scams, and this lawsuit allows us to not only use our resources to protect users but also to serve as a precedent to future bad actors that we don’t tolerate this behavior.”
Google filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York and has identified two individuals, Yunfeng Sun, also known as Alphonse Sun, and Hongnam Cheung, also known as Zhang Hongnim or Stanford Fischer, who have reportedly been carrying out their scam since 2019.
The modus operandi of the scammers is very simple. Victims are lured to download their apps from Google Play and other sources using three methods:
- A text message campaign employing Google Voice, primarily targeting people in the U.S. and Canada.
- Online promotional videos on YouTube and other platforms.
- Affiliate marketing campaigns where commissions are paid on every sign-up.
The lawsuit alleges that Sun, Cheung, and their agents, who designed the apps, show users that they are maintaining balances on the app and earning returns on their investments. However, when the users try to withdraw their earnings, they are unable to do so.
Initially, the scammers allow users to withdraw small amounts of money or their profits to earn trust. Later, it is alleged that users are told to pay a fee to withdraw the money. They are also required to maintain a minimum balance in their accounts.
