Google has filed a lawsuit against individuals accused of uploading fraudulent applications to the Google Play Store. Google alleges that Yunfeng Sun and Hongnam Cheung committed numerous wire frauds, harming Google and over 100,000 users.
As stated in the filing to the Southern District of New York, the defendants made multiple misrepresentations to Google, including providing false information about their identities, locations, and the nature of the applications being uploaded to the Play Store.
The lawsuit alleges victims were tricked into downloading apps promising high crypto returns. which the filing describes as “illusory.” However, when users attempted to withdraw their balances, they were asked to pay various fees to recover their investments and purported gains.
Halimah DeLaine Prado, Google’s general counsel, emphasized the significance of this legal action, stating, “This is a unique opportunity for us to use our resources to actually combat bad actors who were running an extensive crypto scheme to defraud some of our users.”
Prado further explained that the lawsuit allows Google to protect its users and serve as a deterrent to future bad actors. It sends a clear message that such behavior will not be accepted.
The lawsuit shows Google’s effort to keep the platforms fair and give users the security they need from the opportunists. The company’s main target in pursuing legal actions against fakers is to develop a safer virtual environment where those users will not be exploited by using dud methods to humiliate them.