Google Files Lawsuit Against Two Alleged Crypto Scammers
Google is stepping up its game to counter crypto scammers using its platform to scam users. In a lawsuit filed against on Thursday, April 4, the tech giant accused two alleged crypto scammers of offering fraudulent cryptocurrency trading apps to siphon users’ money.
According to a report from The Verge, Google has found the accused of creating a pig butchering scam which is a type of romance scam where victims are lured into making increasing contributions before the fraudsters disappear.
The alleged scammers, one based in China and another in Hong Kong, reportedly uploaded 87 fraudulent apps on Google’s Play Store and managed to lure at least 100,000 users. The estimated amount drawn per user is between $100 to thousands of dollars.
A report from CNBC revealed it has brought the civil claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO), claiming the scammers violated its Terms of Service. In addition, it was revealed that Google had covered $75,000 in economic damages to investigate the fraud.
Google disclosed it is the first technology firm to take action against crypto scammers and has taken the action to establish protection for users, “This is a unique opportunity for us to use our resources to actually combat bad actors who were running an extensive crypto scheme to defraud some of our users,” its general counsel, Halimah DeLaine Prado revealed in a CNBC interview.
Last year, the company reportedly saw billions of dollars’ worth of scam and fraud related to cryptocurrency in the United States alone.
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