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Alphabet‘s Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) has filed a lawsuit against a Chinese cybercriminal network for orchestrating extensive text-message phishing attacks.
The search-engine giant has accused a network of Chinese cybercriminals of orchestrating large-scale text-message phishing attacks. The network, known as “Lighthouse,” is alleged to have compromised between 15 million and 100 million potential credit cards in the U.S., Google’s general counsel, Halimah DeLaine Prado, told CBS News on Wednesday.
The company has filed the first-of-its-kind lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act targeting cybercriminals—a law traditionally used to take down organized crime networks. The company says more than 100 fake websites have been impersonating Google's brand to trick users into sharing passwords or credit card details.
The lawsuit names unidentified individuals, listed as John Does 1 through 25, accused of creating a "phishing-as-a-service" platform used to carry out large-scale text message attacks.
The phishing messages, which appear legitimate, often warn recipients of a “stuck package” or an “unpaid toll.” However, they're crafted to deceive recipients into disclosing sensitive details—like passwords and credit-card numbers—which are then stolen.
Prado stated that the lawsuit is not intended to help victims recover their losses but to serve as a deterrent for future criminals.
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This lawsuit is the latest in a series of actions taken by U.S. tech companies against Chinese cybercriminals. In March 2025, the U.S. Justice Department indicted 12 Chinese nationals for their alleged involvement in a global hacking campaign. The department suspected China’s Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of State Security of employing hackers to acquire confidential information and track down critics worldwide.
Moreover, in July 2025, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) started investigating a possible breach of its early alert system for cybersecurity companies, which may have allowed Chinese hackers to exploit flaws in its SharePoint service before they were patched.
Earlier, in October 2024, Chinese hackers breached AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) networks, potentially compromising systems used for court-authorized wiretapping requests. The breach, linked to the Chinese government, posed a significant national security risk.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
