Summary
- Google sued a group that may have created 200,000 phishing pages in 20 days, in addition to selling ready-made scam kits.
- The lawsuit accuses the group of trademark infringement and organized crime, using fake pages from institutions such as the US Postal Service and Google itself.
- Big tech wants the court to declare the scheme illegal to remove the group from other platforms.
Google took legal action against a group accused of offering phishing kits as a service — a model that facilitated the creation of fake websites to carry out virtual scams.
The company alleges that the defendants, identified only as members of an organization called Lighthouse, developed a structure aimed at helping digital criminals run large-scale campaigns, selling “ready-made kits” for scams.
According to the lawsuit, the network sold monthly licenses and page templates that imitated websites of financial institutions, public agencies and well-known companies, such as the United States Postal Service (USPS). In just 20 days, the group would have created around 200,000 fraudulent pages, attracting more than a million potential victims.
How did the scheme work?
According to the complaint, scammers used Lighthouse tools to send false text messages reporting supposed problems with deliveries or billing.
The links led to pages identical to those of legitimate companies, asking the user to enter personal and banking details. Even those who gave up before sending the information had their data captured, as the system recorded the keystrokes typed.
In addition to imitating the USPS, the group would also have reproduced electronic toll and bank websites, including pages with Google’s own logo. The company claims that this practice constitutes trademark infringement and fraud, in addition to damaging users’ trust in its services.
What does Google want with the action?
In court, Google accuses the group of violating the United States Corrupt and Organized Crime Influenced Organizations Act (RICO Act), in addition to committing fraud and misuse of the brand. The company hopes that the court will declare the scheme illegal, which would allow Lighthouse to be removed from other platforms and help authorities identify those involved, who would be in China.
To the The VergeGoogle general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado said that “it’s up to companies to do what they can, where they can,” and that it’s “helpful for us to use our resources to help combat cybercrime affecting our users.”
Google also defends federal bills that strengthen the fight against digital scams. Last year, the company improved real-time phishing protection in the Chrome browser.
Source: https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/google-vai-a-justica-contra-grupo-que-vendia-phishing-como-servico/
