Google Takes Action Against Chinese Crypto App Racketeers

Crypto News – Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has launched legal action against two Chinese nationals who exploited the firm’s platform to distribute fraudulent cryptocurrency apps that received over 100,000 downloads.

Google Takes Action Against Chinese Crypto App Racketeers

According to Alphabet, scammers uploaded and promoted phony cryptocurrency apps on its platforms, YouTube and Google Play. After perpetrating hundreds of wire fraud crimes, the firm claims the defendants developed a pattern of racketeering.

The goal of the scam applications was to trick users into depositing money they would never be able to withdraw by making them appear like real digital asset investments. Many have gotten past Google‘s fraud detection algorithms even though the company is constantly eliminating bogus apps.

This litigation is a critical step in holding these bad actors accountable and sending a clear message that we will aggressively pursue those who seek to take advantage of our users.

Halimah DeLaine Prado, Google’s general counsel

Phishing Scams increased by 50% in March

The cryptocurrency sector is becoming increasingly concerned about hacks and exploits, particularly with regard to decentralized finance applications. According to an April 2 X post by Scam Sniffer, around $71 million was lost to phishing scammers in March across all chains from 77,529 victims—a 50% increase compared to February. Phishing schemes cost a total of $173 million in digital assets in the first quarter of 2024; 90% of the stolen assets were Ethereum network ERC-20 tokens.