Google Sues Crypto Scammers for Fake Android App Fraud

Google filed a lawsuit against a group of con artists for defrauding over 100K people worldwide through cryptocurrency trading apps.

On Thursday, April 4, the internet giant Google filed a lawsuit against a group of con artists for defrauding more than 100,000 people worldwide by posting bogus investments and cryptocurrency trading applications to the Google Play Store.

Google Goes Strict Against Crypto Scammers

It is with this new development that Google has taken credit for being the first digital company to take action against crypto scammers while also establishing a legal precedent for the safety of users.

The tech company adds in its lawsuit that the defendants made “multiple misrepresentations to Google to upload their fraudulent apps to Google Play.”

The defendants misrepresented their name, location, and the type and nature of the program they were uploading, among other things.

Using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law in conjunction with breach of contract allegations, Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, is taking legal action against a collection of con artists.

The corporation asserts that the con artists were responsible for setting up a system that involved producing and distributing at least 87 bogus applications with the intention of tricking smartphone users.

Google’s general counsel, Halimah DeLaine Prado saw the action as a chance to tackle fraudulent behaviors inside the Bitcoin field. These acts include stealing cryptocurrency.

She went on to underline the substantial financial impact of cryptocurrency fraud when speaking to CNBC Crypto World. She cited losses of over one billion dollars in the United States alone in 2023 from bitcoin fraud.

Prado emphasized the company’s dedication to protecting its consumers and discouraging potentially fraudulent behavior in the future through legal consequences.

Google’s lawsuit names Yunfeng Sun, also known as Alphonse Sun, and Hongnam Cheung, also known as Zhang Hongnim or Stanford Fischer, as the alleged scammers.

The lawsuit also states that the scheme has been around since 2019. Using three primary strategies, the pair allegedly enticed individuals to download their applications from Google Play and other platforms.

These strategies included text message campaigns through Google Voice, which targeted victims primarily in the United States and Canada, promotional videos distributed on YouTube and other online platforms and affiliate marketing campaigns that offered user commissions for recruiting others.

As stated in the lawsuit, Sun, Cheung, and their collaborators developed the applications to give users the appearance that they were legitimate business entities by displaying apparent balances and investment returns.

On the other hand, consumers discovered that they were unable to withdraw their investments or the earnings that they believed they had achieved.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants allegedly allowed users to withdraw tiny amounts of money from the applications at the beginning of their experience to ensure that they would continue to use the apps.

Google allegedly informed specific customers that they had to either pay a charge or maintain a minimum level to access their funds.

The tech giant said these techniques “deceived some victims into further financial losses.” Victims who complained about not being able to withdraw their payments alerted the company to the existence of the fake apps.

DeLaine Prado said, “We have a dedicated cybersecurity team that continuously monitors all of our platforms and services for opportunities to enhance user protection.”

In her statement, she said that the tech company occasionally works with other law enforcement authorities. The complaint submitted by the tech company states that once the business removed the bogus apps, the con artists immediately built new ones and published them on Google Play.

To conceal their identities, they utilized a variety of computer network infrastructures and accounts, and while doing so, they gave Google bogus information. Additionally, the tech company is trying to enable Bitcoin exchange-traded fund advertisements on its platform.