Google has filed a lawsuit against a group of Chinese hackers that it claims sells software to help criminals run online scams, which the US tech giant said have ensnared 1mn people in 121 countries and stolen $1bn.
The group runs a platform called “Lighthouse”, which charges a monthly fee for “phishing services” that assist criminals to execute massive campaigns to extract sensitive information, according to a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York on Wednesday.
These phishing campaigns generate fake emails, text messages and websites impersonating Google’s brands such as Gmail and YouTube, as well as others including the New York City government or the US Postal Service (USPS).