Google Sues Two Developers Over Fake Crypto App Scams
- Written by Elijah Ugoh Cybersecurity & Tech Writer
- Fact-Checked by
Google is suing two crypto app developers in New York federal court, accusing them of luring unsuspecting users into downloading and investing in dozens of fake crypto apps distributed on its Google Play app store.
Reuters reported on Thursday that victims of the crypto scam have lost tens of thousands of dollars. Google alleged that accused scammers — Yunfeng Sun, based in Shenzhen, China, and Hongnam Cheung, based in Hong Kong — uploaded 87 different fake crypto investment apps.
The lawsuit alleged that the two developers and their associates have been using these fraudulent apps to drive their schemes since 2019, garnering more than 100,000 downloads worldwide.
“Keeping people safe online is core to our business, and we will not tolerate the misuse of our platforms to facilitate cryptocurrency scams,” says Halimah DeLaine Prado, General Counsel at Google, in an email to Blockworks . “This litigation is a critical step in holding these bad actors accountable,” she added.
Google explained that Sun and Cheung would create fake cryptocurrency exchange and investment apps and upload them to the Google Play Store with fake locations, allegedly misrepresenting them as legitimate investing apps. The duo and their associates would then use a “social engineering” scheme involving random romantic text messages, fake press releases, and YouTube videos promoting the apps to lure in victims.
“The texts would purport to be from wrong numbers, but then the texters would strike up conversations with the victims, developing friendships and romantic attachments,” Google added. After convincing people to invest through their apps, the platform will show investors their balance and returns on investments to make it look convincing.
But, users are usually not allowed to take out their money. They can withdraw only small amounts of their returns, according to Google. “When users tried to withdraw larger amounts of their ‘earnings,’ they were told to pay more money,” Google said.
If the victims turned to their romantic friend to complain, the “friend” or “romantic partner” who had earlier convinced them to invest through these apps would just disappear.
No comment has been made by the defendants yet. The lawsuit, with case No. 1:24-cv-02559, was filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Brazilian Supreme Court Investigates Elon Musk After Refusal to Block X Accounts
- Written by Deep Shikha Content Writer
- Fact-Checked by
A Supreme Court judge in Brazil started an investigation into Musk on April 7. This happened after Musk announced he would unblock accounts on the social media platform X, which the judge had previously ordered to be blocked.
On April 6, X Corp received a court order from Justice Alexandre de Moraes, forcing it to block some well-known accounts on X. The court order also intends to stop X from sharing information about these blocked accounts. If it doesn’t follow the order, X could face fines of up to $20,000 per day, according to reports by The Associated Press .
X Corp’s Global Affairs team reported that the company is unaware of specific reasons for this order or which posts allegedly broke the law. The team says that these orders conflict with Brazil’s internet laws and the constitution and intends to challenge them legally wherever possible.
Elon Musk posted on X that this rule could cause the company to lose all its money and might even close its offices in Brazil. He mentioned that X would lift all the restrictions because they were unconstitutional. Musk also called for Moraes to either resign or face impeachment.
As reported by the Washington Post , the blocked accounts include at least nine people with far-right ideals, some of whom have close ties to far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro. Court records say the people behind the blocked accounts were spreading misinformation and anti-democratic ideas in Brazil.
Forbes reported that since Musk took over, X has agreed to about 80% of government requests to remove content, which is actually more than the 50% they used to follow before he took over the company.
The clash between X and Brazilian authorities reveals deep tensions and uncertainties over free speech, digital rights, and how global online platforms can affect government control. It also poses crucial questions for the future of digital governance and the role of social media platforms in the political landscape.
