Google announced Friday that one day after it filed a lawsuit against a smishing syndicate, the criminal enterprise has been disrupted. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
One day after filing suit against an international smishing syndicate, Google said the organization has been disrupted.
The leader of the group posted on Telegram that its cloud server was “blocked due to malicious complaints,” Ars Technica reported.
“Please be patient and we will restore it as soon as possible!” one message read.
“The reopening date will be announced separately,” another said.
Google didn’t say how the cloud server was blocked.
On Wednesday, Google filed a lawsuit against a China-based cybercriminal group known as the Smishing Triad by cybersecurity researchers. The group operates a phishing-as-a-service platform called Lighthouse, which helps others create text message scams that direct people to fake websites where they input their personal and financial information. The messages tell recipients they have information on a blocked package or an unpaid road toll.
“This shutdown of Lighthouse’s operations is a win for everyone,” said Halimah DeLaine Prado, Google’s general counsel to Ars Technica. “We will continue to hold malicious scammers accountable and protect consumers.”
The Lighthouse group has more than a million victims in 120 countries, Google said in a press release. It has stolen between 12.7 million and 115 million credit cards in the United States alone.
Google said its monitoring indicates that the Lighthouse network risks gradually losing resources for infrastructure if its lawsuit raises awareness.
The claim was filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the Lanham Act, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
The tech giant said it is also working with U.S. legislators to enact laws that will help protect against scammers. Some legislation that Google is pushing to get passed include: Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act, which would provide funds for local law enforcement to investigate scams against retirees; Foreign Robocall Elimination Act, which would create a task force to block foreign-originated illegal robocalls; and the Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization Act, which would create a strategy to fight scam compounds.
