Google sued a group of crypto scammers, citing an alleged fraud by uploading fake investment and crypto exchange apps in Google Play.
The lawsuit also detailed that the crypto scammers illegally obtained money from more than 100,000 people across the globe.
Google Takes Action Against Crypto Scammers
According to the lawsuit, the defendants made "multiple misrepresentations to Google in order to upload their fraudulent apps to Google Play, including but not limited to misrepresentations about their identity, location, and the type and nature of the application being uploaded."
The tech company filed the suit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law. In addition, the scammers will also face breach of contract claims after creating and publishing around 87 fraudulent apps that caused harm to users.
Google's general counsel, Halimah DeLaine Prado, stated that the lawsuit will serve as an opportunity for the company to fight against bad actors who are running extensive crypto schemes to defraud its users.
The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York and identified three alleged scammers. This includes Yunfeng Sun, also known as Alphonse Sun, and Hongnam Cheung, also known as Zhang Hongnim or Stanford Fischer.
U.S. Suffers From Cryptocurrency Fraud, Scams
Google reported that over a billion dollars of cryptocurrency fraud and scams were recorded in 2023 alone. Scammers often play a wide range of schemes and scams to exploit users of digital currencies.
The identified scammers have allegedly started their operations in 2019. Sun, Cheung, and other agents designed the apps to appear legitimate. The fake apps showed the balances and earning returns but users could not withdraw their investments or gains.
The duo allegedly lured victims to download their apps from Google Play through text message campaigns with Google Voice for users within the U.S. and Canada. Meanwhile, online promotional videos on YouTube and affiliate marketing campaigns were used to encourage others.
Google is now seeking a permanent injunction against the alleged scammers for general damages, along with the damages of $75,000 for investigating the breach and usage of other resources.
