Google Files Lawsuit Against Chinese App Developers, Alleges Thousands Defrauded by Pig-Slaughtering Scheme

In federal court in New York, Google has filed a lawsuit against two Chinese software developers for allegedly creating fake crypto applications that were downloaded by over 100,000 individuals. The apps, TionRT and SkypeWallet were removed by Google due to user complaints, leading to investigations.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, accuses Yunfeng Sun from Shenzhen, China, and Hongnam Cheung from Hong Kong, of creating at least 87 fraudulent applications since 2019. These applications included “pig-butchering” scams where the developers would engage in conversations with victims to gain their trust before persuading them to invest in fake projects.

The Justice Department in the US has seized over $112 million and indicted four individuals in connection with similar schemes. In China and Southeast Asia, thousands have been apprehended for their involvement in such scams, with some believed to have been coerced into participating.

According to the lawsuit, more than 100,000 people downloaded applications linked to the alleged scammers, resulting in significant financial losses for some victims. Sun and Cheung would create these applications, upload them to the Google Play store, and then use messaging apps to contact potential victims and convince them to invest in the apps.

Google is seeking a permanent ban on Sun and Cheung from using Google services and is requesting an unspecified amount in damages to be determined in a jury trial. Aleks Gilbert is DL News’ correspondent based in New York and covers DeFi topics. Contact him at aleks@dlnews.com.

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