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   Google sues Chinese hacker group which allegedly stole $1 billion from a   
   million victims   
      
   Date:   
   Thu, 13 Nov 2025 16:04:00 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   The Lighthouse Enterprise is a major phishing-as-a-service operation from   
   China used to build thousands of fake sites.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Google has sued the Lighthouse Enterprise - a major Chinese global fraud   
   operation which facilitated the theft of millions of credit cards and    
   hundreds of millions of dollars.    
      
   In a federal lawsuit recently filed in the Southern District of New York,   
   Google revealed plans to sue a group of foreign criminals for running a   
   massive phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) operation.    
      
   According to the complaint, the group created and sold a phishing kit called   
   Lighthouse, which allowed even newbie criminals to build fake websites that   
   mimicked trusted institutions. The kit, advertised through Telegram and   
   YouTube, offered hundreds of pre-made templates and tools to launch   
   large-scale smishing and e-commerce scams, and allowed users to create fake   
   websites spoofing government agencies, financial corporations and - among   
   others - Google.   
      
   Unknown number of "Does"    
      
   Google alleges that over a span of 20 days, the Lighthouse platform was used   
   to create 200,000 fake websites, which targeted more than a million victims    
   in 121 countries.    
      
   Citing researchers, Google estimates between 12.7 million and 115 million   
   credit cards in the US alone may have been compromised through   
   Lighthouse-powered attacks.    
      
   The exact number of people running the operation is unknown. In the lawsuit,   
   the individuals are labeled as Doe 1-25, although Google acknowledged that    
   the actual number of people is probably a lot bigger.    
      
   In some cases, the crooks would create fake USPS package delivery texts, or   
   would alert victims of pending toll payments. Sometimes, they would build   
   counterfeit online stores that stole users payment data and often used stolen   
   information to load victims credit cards into digital wallets to make   
   unauthorized payments.    
      
   Google claims Lighthouse operators misused Google logos and trademarks, ran   
   ads through Google Ads, and even uploaded tutorials to YouTube showing how to   
   carry out the scams.    
      
   The hackers damaged Googles reputation, violated its terms of service, and   
   forced it to spend hundreds of hours investigating and shutting down   
   fraudulent accounts, the company concluded.    
      
   This is not the first time Google has sued Chinese nationals for cybercrime,   
   but most of the time the lawsuits come to nothing, since China rarely   
   extradites its citizens to the US, especially when it comes to cybercrime.    
      
    Via The Register    
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/google-sues-chinese-hacker-group-which-   
   allegedly-stole-usd1-billion-from-a-million-victims   
      
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