Google is suing two crypto fraud suspects for using the Play Store to provide fraudulent crypto trading apps and investment platforms. Instead They just stole the user's money. These apps were used for a type of romance scam commonly referred to as “pig butchering,” which refers to fattening pigs before being slaughtered.
Two people accused of fraud App developer based in China and Hong Kong — Suspected uploaded 87 different scam apps enable the scheme and lure more than 100,000 people who have downloaded it. Based on user complaints, Google claims that users have suffered losses ranging from $100 to tens of thousands of dollars each.Apps uploaded by the pair and their anonymous associates Google says it's been used in various versions of the scam since at least 2019.
Google says it is the first company in its industry to take this kind of action. The company has already shut down apps on the Play Store when they were determined to be fraudulent. “This lawsuit sends a clear message that we will hold these bad actors accountable and aggressively pursue those who take advantage of our users,” Halima Delaine Prado, Google's general counsel, said in a statement. It's an important step.” Google said it was also harmed by the scheme because it threatened the “integrity” of its app store and diverted resources to detect and disrupt its operations. The company announced that it had suffered more than $75,000 in financial damages as a result of the fraud investigation.
According to Google's complaint, the alleged scam involved the following: The developers are said to have created fake cryptocurrency exchange and investment apps, passed them off to the Play Store as legitimate investment apps, and misrepresented their location and other details so they could be uploaded. The scammer or his girlfriend's alleged associates then use a combination of romance scam messages and her YouTube videos to lure users to the platform. This type of fraud is often referred to as “pig butchering,” but Google says in a footnote to the complaint that it does not adopt or endorse this terminology.
The first text they send may look familiar to anyone who has ever received text spam. Messages like “I'm Sophia. Do you remember me?” or “I miss you all the time, how are your parents Mike?” according to the complaint. If they get a response, the alleged scammers will start a conversation and eventually move it to a platform like WhatsApp, and then convince their new “friend” to use one of his scam apps. It seems like you are trying to download one and put money into it.
According to the complaint, developers and their associates sometimes convinced alleged victims that they could earn commissions by promoting the apps themselves as “affiliates” of the platform.
Google claims that once users use the app, developers have made the platform look convincing by demonstrating balance and return on investment. The only problem was that users could not withdraw their money. According to Google, the apps sometimes allowed users to withdraw small amounts of money, or required withdrawal fees or minimum balances, ultimately swindling them out of even more money.
Google is accusing the developers of violating its terms of service and violating the Unauthorized Organizations Act. The company is asking the court to prevent further fraud and award Google an unspecified amount of damages.
