Google has filed a legal action against a group of scammers who exploit its logos in a scheme aimed at exploiting public interest in artificial intelligence and deceiving them into installing malicious software.
In a lawsuit filed in California, the company alleges that individuals believed to be living in Vietnam are creating pages on social media and running ads encouraging users to download a fake artificial intelligence service.
These fake tools install malware on victims’ devices, ultimately resulting in the theft of login credentials for a large number of users, according to the American website The Verge.
The lawsuit mentions that three unidentified individuals who are not affiliated with Google in any way have used the company’s trademarks to attract victims.
The lawsuit states that scammers precisely used promoted Facebook posts in an attempt to spread malware, similar to the fraud schemes that occurred in the cryptocurrency world.
Halimah Deling Prado, Google’s General Counsel, stated in a company blog post that lawsuits are an effective way to set a legal precedent and disable scammers’ tools, as well as increase penalties imposed on involved negative entities.
