Google Sues Distributors of Fraudulent Bitcoin Apps

A federal court in New York is set to hear a lawsuit filed by Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, against two Chinese nationals accused of distributing and promoting fraudulent applications. This was reported by Bloomberg. 

According to the case materials, since 2019, the perpetrators acquired and uploaded 87 applications to Google Play, purportedly offering earnings from cryptocurrency investments. In reality, they stole all funds sent through these apps. The applications were advertised on platforms including YouTube and through messengers, involving various influencers.

In total, the applications were downloaded over 100,000 times. The amount of damage remains unknown.

Google accuses the defendants of conspiring to extort money through electronic fraud. 

Earlier, according to Immunefi, in the first three months of 2024, the crypto industry lost ~$336.3 million due to hacks and fraud.