Google’s corporate logo outside the Google Germany office in Berlin, Germany, on August 31, 2021.
Sean Gallup Getty Images News | Getty Images
google announced Thursday that it had disrupted a foreign cybercriminal group behind a massive SMS text phishing operation within 24 hours of filing the lawsuit.
“This shutdown of Lighthouse is a win for everyone,” Google general counsel Halima Delaine Prado said in a statement. “We will continue to hold malicious fraudsters accountable and protect consumers.”
Google filed a lawsuit early Wednesday seeking to dismantle what some cyber experts call the “Smishing Triad,” which used a phishing kit called “Lighthouse” to generate and deploy attacks using fake text.
The company provided translations of Telegram messages allegedly posted by the group’s ringleaders.
“Our cloud server has been blocked due to a malicious complaint. Please be patient and we will restore it as soon as possible,” one message read.
Another message said, “The reopening date will be announced separately.”
Google did not provide details on how the operation was shut down.
Google said in a release that the criminal group harmed at least 1 million victims in more than 120 countries.
Victims receive texts containing malicious links to fraudulent websites designed to steal sensitive financial information such as Social Security numbers and banking credentials.
Messages often appear as fake delivery information, notices of unpaid charges, fraud alerts, and other text designed to appear urgent.
“They were preying on users’ trust in reputable brands like E-ZPass, the U.S. Postal Service, and even Google,” DeLaine Prado previously told CNBC.
The company announced that it had discovered more than 100 templates generated by Lighthouse that used the company’s brand to trick victims into thinking the site was legitimate.
