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Tech giant Google has taken legal action against a group of crypto scammers, alleging their involvement in defrauding more than 100,000 people worldwide.
Filed on Thursday, the lawsuit accuses the scammers of uploading fraudulent investment and cryptocurrency exchange apps to Google Play, Google’s official app store for Android devices.
What’s the lawsuit about?
The lawsuit, a first-of-its-kind move by a tech company against crypto scammers, aims to set a legal precedent and establish protections for users.
According to Google, the defendants made multiple misrepresentations to the company to upload their fraudulent apps, including false information about their identity, location, and the nature of the applications.
The group of scammers, identified as Yunfeng Sun (also known as Alphonse Sun) and Hongnam Cheung (also known as Zhang Hongnim or Stanford Fischer), allegedly conducted their scheme since at least 2019.
The lawsuit alleges that the scammers employed various methods to lure victims into downloading their apps, including text message campaigns, online promotional videos, and affiliate marketing campaigns.
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Once downloaded, the fraudulent apps were designed to appear legitimate, with users led to believe they were earning returns on their investments. However, users were unable to withdraw their investments or profits, leading to substantial losses.
Google claims that despite its efforts to take down the fraudulent apps, the scammers would create new ones and upload them to Google Play using deceptive tactics to obfuscate their identities.
Google counsel said this in an interview
Halimah DeLaine Prado, General Counsel at Google, stated in an exclusive on-camera interview with CNBC Crypto World that the lawsuit presents a unique opportunity for the company to combat bad actors involved in extensive crypto schemes.
Prado emphasized the importance of using resources to protect users and deter future fraudulent activities.
The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, brings civil claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law, as well as breach of contract claims against the defendants.
Google seeks a permanent injunction against the defendants, as well as damages for expenses incurred in investigating the breach and ensuring user safety and integrity.
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One of the UK’s leading gambling brands allegedly paid blogs advising new mothers to recommend its online casino games and link to its website, in a tactic that has been condemned as “predatory” by leading mental health and addiction experts.
Coral struck deals with parenting bloggers to embed links in posts offering tips, including on how to relieve the stress of caring for a new baby.
One post, ostensibly about baby food recipes, said: “If as a mum you can’t leave the house, then why not consider bingo online?
“You can click here to play Bingo online at Coral – this momentary break from childcare can prove beneficial.”
The Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) guidelines state that gambling adverts must not be “socially irresponsible”, including presenting betting as a way to relieve loneliness or depression.
Another parenting blog recommended “opulent games of online roulette that are easy to learn and can provide some handy winnings too”.
The ASA guidelines also state that gambling must not be presented as a “solution to financial concerns”.
A further three parenting blogs posted parenting articles that also contained segments recommending online casino or bingo and linking to the Coral website.
A source familiar with the arrangements said Coral had paid the bloggers to include the links.
Such games are typically more popular with women than sports betting. Major gambling operators have sought to expand their customer base in recent years by targeting women, who have historically gambled less than men.
Entain, which owns Coral, said the articles including links to the Coral website had been posted between 2014 and 2016, before it bought Ladbrokes Coral in 2018.
On Tuesday, the company said it would try to get them taken down as soon as possible, although they remained live on Sunday.
“Neither Coral nor any Entain brand actively targets young mothers or any other potentially vulnerable group through the use of affiliate marketing,” a spokesperson said.
The company added that it was “unable to prevent third parties from linking to our gaming sites”.
The source, who used to work for a company that arranged such deals with bloggers, said Coral staff had read the articles and signed them off before publication.
Entain added: “We do not make payments to any of the sites in the examples provided.”
However, it did not say whether Coral had done so in the past.
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Claire Murdoch, NHS England’s national mental health director, said: “It’s cynical for gambling firms to target new and single mums at a time in their lives when they may be suffering stress, sleep deprivation and issues which make them particularly vulnerable.
“This is yet another example of predatory behaviour from a gambling industry which is worth billions each year – while at the same time the NHS is investing more than ever before in mental health support for new mothers.
Henrietta Bowden-Jones, the founder and director of the National Problem Gambling Clinic, said: “The direct targeting of new mothers by embedding a bingo advert in a page about baby food recipes is deeply disturbing and should be called out.
“Gambling is not a way out of psychological distress and these embedded messages are taking advantage of people’s circumstances knowing they may be at home alone for far longer periods than ever experienced.
“These are all gambling adverts hiding in full light of day, it may be less apparent to someone new to gambling that these messages are there encouraging people to take up gambling for the first time.”
Only one of the blog posts disclosed that links contained in the article were the result of a sponsorship or affiliate marketing arrangement.
The Guardian has chosen not to name the blogs because the authors could not be reached for comment.
The source said the practice was chiefly aimed at manipulating Google’s search results by creating an association between women and online casino and bingo games.
Entain said the links did not provide it with any search engine benefits.
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Basketball legend and businessman Shaquille O’Neal was served legal documents on Sunday in the FTX lawsuit, after allegedly dodging the paperwork for months. The lawsuit is targeting FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and the company’s celebrity endorsers for defrauding investors.
Adam Moskowitz, co-counsel for investors on the FTX class action suit and partner at Moskowitz Law Firm, said that Shaq was “hiding and driving away from our process servers for the past three months,” per Coindesk.
“Plaintiffs in the billion $ FTX class action case just served @SHAQ outside his house,” the Moskowitz Law Firm tweeted. “His home video cameras recorded our service and we made it very clear that he is not to destroy or erase any of these security tapes, because they must be preserved for our lawsuit.”
Prior to the update on Sunday evening, Moskowitz Law Firm tweeted at Shaq on April 13th saying that “all other FTX celebrities have agreed to receive their complaints,” and called on the NBA Hall of Famer to have “courtesy and honor” in allowing the lawyers to deliver the papers.
You have been running from us for months & all other FTX celebrities have agreed to receive their complaints. Please have the courtesy & honor to simply allow our process servers tomorrow to deliver our legal complaint on your behalf, so you can defend your actions in this matter
— The Moskowitz Law Firm (@moskowitzesq) April 14, 2023
The FTX class action lawsuit claims Bankman-Fried and other public figures defrauded investors by promoting the cryptocurrency in what ultimately was a “Ponzi scheme,” per court documents. Other celebrities implicated in the lawsuit are Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Stephen Curry, and Kevin O’Leary.
Related: ‘I Was Blindsided’: Gisele Bündchen Breaks Silence on FTX Collapse
“A lot of people think I’m involved, but I was just a paid spokesperson for a commercial,” O’Neal told CNBC in December.
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