"Now, Google is suing an international cybercrime group it believes is responsible for the ubiquitous text-based phishing scheme, which may have raked in as much as $1 billion over the last three years. In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday, Google alleges that 25 people are part of a sprawling scam operation known as "Lighthouse" designed to swipe the logins and passwords of victims caught in its web."
"The Lighthouse scam hinges on tricking people with bogus texts, prompting them to click a link and share their credentials on fake websites. The websites display legitimate-looking logos of brands like Google, Gmail, or YouTube, to convince potential victims that their fake webpages are real, hence the company's involvement. Google says that it found 107 website templates misusing Google branding on their sign-in screens in order to fool people into thinking those sites are safe and actually connected to Google's products."
"According to the lawsuit, almost 200 fake web templates connected to the Lighthouse network imitate U.S. websites like those belonging to New York's city government and the USPS. Beyond Google's own logos, the fake sites display official-looking logos of payment companies and social media platforms. Google and other security researchers believe that the text phishing scam network is based in China, well beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement."
Google is suing an international cybercrime group it alleges built a large smishing operation called Lighthouse that may have stolen $1 billion over three years. The lawsuit alleges 25 individuals operate the network that sends bogus SMS messages prompting victims to click links and enter credentials on counterfeit sign-in pages. The counterfeit sites display logos of Google, Gmail, YouTube, payment companies, social platforms, and U.S. government services like New York city and the USPS. Google identified 107 web templates misusing Google branding and nearly 200 fake templates tied to the network. Security researchers believe the operation is based in China.
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