Google accuses two Chinese citizens of downloading 87 fraudulent crypto applications on Google Play

What’s new? Google Corporation has sued two Chinese citizens, accusing them of developing fraudulent cryptocurrency apps for the Google Play marketplace and defrauding more than 100 000 users worldwide. According to the lawsuit, filed in the court of the Southern District of New York, they created applications that mimicked investment platforms: users saw the balance and estimated profits, but could not withdraw investments and interest.

Material by Bloomberg

What else is known? Google alleges that Yunfeng Sun (aka Alphonse Sun) and Hongnam Cheung (aka Zhang Hongnim or Stanford Fischer) have been running the scheme since at least 2019. They provided false information to the corporationtoo get approval to list their apps on the marketplace. Specifically, they provided false information about their identities, locations, and the type and nature of the apps.

Sun and Cheung recruited victims through Google Voice, YouTube and social media ads, and referral programs, issuing rewards for recruiting new users. They resorted to social engineering, among other things, seeking to establish friendships and even romantic relationships with victims in order to lower their vigilance.

This scheme was specifically named Pig Butchering, and according to Chainalysis analysts, it turned out to be the most profitable for crypto fraudsters last year. And according to the FBI, investment crypto fraud grew by 53% year-over-year and approached $4 billion.

Google specifies that it removed the fraudulent apps, but the accused downloaded new ones using different accounts and again misrepresenting their identities and the purpose of the developments. Since 2019, they have uploaded at least 87 such apps on the marketplace.

The tech giant is seeking damages over $75 000 and a permanent injunction against the defendants and their co-conspirators that will prevent them from creating Google accounts and accessing any Google services in the future.

Google General Counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado said that this lawsuit will allow the corporation to set a precedent for protecting users in the future.

Google has started displaying wallet balances from Bitcoin and other blockchains in its search results

Earlier, support for searching addresses on the Ethereum network, including those connected to ENS, was added

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Earlier, the chief lawyer of crypto pyramid OneCoin, Irina Dilkinska, was sentenced to 4 years in prison. Her accomplices received 20 and 10 years in prison.