Users of the internet, beware! Google has lately become aware of an alleged puppy fraud scheme.
According to The Verge, the tech giant Google sued a scammer on Monday for conducting a puppy fraud operation, scamming vulnerable people, particularly the elderly, out of thousands of dollars with bogus promises of purebred puppies.
According to Google’s complaint, the scammer Nche Noel from Cameroon used Gmail and Google Voice services with dozens of different aliases to interact with the victims.
In one case, a victim paid Noel USD 700 in “electronic gift cards” in order to buy a puppy. Following the delivery of the gift cards, Noel continued to tease the victim, telling them that the delivery firm required an additional USD 1,500.
The puppy never arrived, according to the complaint.
To take advantage of people during the pandemic, the accused used a network of false websites claiming to sell basset hound puppies, complete with attractive photographs and phony customer testimonials. “Unfortunately, this scam disproportionately targeted elderly Americans, who can be more vulnerable to cyberattack,” said Mike Trinh, Google’s senior attorney, in a blog post on Monday.
Google has previously sued Russian hackers and marketing firms posing as the company.
