Google is suing two developers for creating a fake cryptocurrency investment app. Substantial losses affected more than 100,000 victims.
Google recently filed a lawsuit against Yunfeng Sun and Hongnam Cheung, two Asia-based app developers. They are accused of having set up a “ international online investment fraud scheme » which tricked users into downloading fake Android apps from the Play Store.
These applications, presented as juicy investment plans in cryptocurrencies, promised high returns. But when it was time to withdraw their winnings, more than 100,000 users understood the scam by being forced to pay ever more exorbitant fees before recovering their balls. Google, already very vigilant against spam and malware on the Play Store, has decided to strike hard.
“Pig butchering”, a very common scam
According to Google’s complaint, the two defendants allegedly downloaded approximately 87 cryptocurrency apps from the Play Store since at least 2019 as part of their scam. More than 100,000 users downloaded these apps, without knowing that they were incurring big losses. The earnings promised by the applications would never land in their pockets. When victims attempted to withdraw their balances, the purported developers asked the victims to pay various fees and other payments, supposedly necessary to recover their primary investments and supposed winnings.
This scam is usually called “ pig butchering » (aka shā zhū pan), which does not bode well. This is a term that Google has stated that it does not adopt or endorse. The idea behind this expression is that victims are fattened like pigs with the promise of lucrative income before being ” slaughtered » for their property.
In September 2023, the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) stated that these scams are perpetrated by criminal enterprises based in Southeast Asia that employ hundreds of thousands of people who are subject to traffic to the region with the promise of well-paid jobs. Scammers use elaborate fictitious personas to target unsuspecting people through social media or dating platforms, luring them with the prospect of a romantic relationship to build trust and convince them to invest in cryptocurrency wallets which are supposed to offer high profits in a short period of time, with the aim of stealing their funds.
A very elaborate trap via Google Voice, affiliate campaigns, YouTube advertisements
To create an appearance of legitimacy, financially motivated actors are known to fabricate websites and mobile applications to display a fake investment portfolio with high returns. According to Google, they tricked investor victims into downloading their fraudulent apps through text messages using Google Voice to target victims in the United States and Canada. But the hackers’ catalog was very rich, also offering affiliate marketing campaigns that offer commissions for ” registering additional users » and YouTube videos that promoted fake investment platforms.
The Mountain View giant described the scam as persistent and ongoing, with the defendants “ using computer network infrastructures and various accounts to conceal their identities, and making false claims to Google in the process “.
She also accuses them of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO),
this federal law adopted in 1970 in the United States to combat corruption and organized criminal activities: money laundering, various frauds or drug trafficking, for example, having committed electronic fraud and having violated the conditions Google Play App Signing Usage Guidelines, Developer Program Policies, YouTube Community Guidelines, and Google Voice Acceptable Use Guidelines.
“ By using Google Play to carry out their fraud scheme, the defendants threatened the integrity of Google Play and the user experience ”, Google complained.
This development is the latest in a series of legal actions Google has taken to prevent misuse of its products. In November 2023, the company sued several people in India and Vietnam for distributing fake versions of its Bard AI chatbot (now renamed Gemini) to spread malware through Facebook.
Source : The Hacker News
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