Google (GOOG) Takes Legal Action Against Alleged Crypto Scammers for Uploading Fraudulent Apps

Google is suing a group of alleged scammers who are said to have uploaded fraudulent apps to Google Play.
Victims were lured to download the apps with promises of high returns that the lawsuit described as "illusory."
A Google spokesperson described the lawsuit as a "unique opportunity" to set a precedent for how to deal with bad actors.

Google filed a lawsuit against alleged crypto scammers claiming they uploaded fraudulent investment apps to Google Play.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in the Southern District of New York alleges that Yunfeng Sun and Hongnam Cheung committed hundreds of acts of wire fraud, "causing harm to Google and at least approximately 100,000 Google users."

The defendants made "multiple misrepresentations to Google in order to upload their fraudulent apps to Google Play, including but not limited to, misrepresentations about their identity, location, and the type and nature of the application being uploaded," according to the filing.

Victims were lured to download the apps with promises of high returns from investing in crypto and other products, which the lawsuit described as "illusory." When victims attempted to withdraw their balances, they would be asked to pay various fees to recover their investments and purported gains, according to the filing.

"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," Halimah DeLaine Prado, general counsel at Google, said in an interview with CNBC. "This [lawsuit] allows us to not only use our resources to protect users, but to also serve as sort of a precedent to future bad actors that we don't tolerate this behavior."

Edited by Sheldon Reback.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Consensus

29

16

24

37

Google Takes Legal Action Against Alleged Crypto Scammers for Uploading Fraudulent Apps

The defendants are said to have committed hundreds of acts of wire fraud, "causing harm to Google and at least approximately 100,000 Google users."

10 Years of Decentralizing the Future