Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has taken legal action against two individuals in China for using Google Play and YouTube to promote fraudulent cryptocurrency apps. The lawsuit, filed on April 4 in a New York federal court, accuses the defendants of engaging in racketeering and committing wire fraud. These scam apps, which resembled legitimate digital asset investments, convinced users to deposit funds that could never be withdrawn. Despite Google’s efforts to remove fraudulent apps, many have slipped past its fraud detection systems since the scammers began uploading them in 2019. Google’s general counsel, Halimah DeLaine Prado, emphasized the importance of this lawsuit in protecting the platform’s users.
In March alone, phishing scammers caused approximately $71 million in losses across various blockchains, affecting 77,529 victims. This represents a 50% increase compared to February. In the first quarter of 2024, a total of $173 million worth of digital assets were lost to phishing scams, with 90% of the stolen assets being ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum network. Phishing scams involve social engineering tactics to trick victims into sharing sensitive information or installing malicious software. The crypto industry has seen a rise in hacks and exploits, particularly in decentralized finance applications. In 2023, a staggering $1.8 billion was lost to crypto hacks and scammers, with 17% attributed to the North Korean Lazarus Group, according to a report by Immunefi. Despite increasing regulatory scrutiny, Crypto.com is expanding its operations in South Korea.